Never Comin' Round
by xxStemxx
Summary: Much anticipated sequel to Loving My Berries. How will Quinn and Rachel deal with being at seperate colleges and how will Quinn cope with jealousy over Rachel's new roommate? FABERRY!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So here we have it. The long awaited sequel to Loving My Berries. Without giving anything past chapter one away, this will be about how Rachel and (probably more so) Quinn deal with being at separate colleges.**

**We also have a short update, just to introduce the story and get the ball rolling a bit. It will be updated in turn with After You. So it'll be updated After You, this, After You, this until After You finishes.**

**So, Read and Review.**

**Quinn's day**

**-/-**

"Let me come with you."

"No."

"Please, let me come with you. I'll let you do whatever you want to me for a week." That was harder to resist.

"No. My girlfriend is going to Yale so that she can be big and famous like I will be on Broadway." Rachel announced. Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel and brought her lips to Rachel's ear.

"Maybe you want me to do something to you for a week." She husked, biting down on the lobe slightly. Rachel squealed.

"Quinn, this is highly inappropriate. My father's are waiting downstairs for us to bring down the final bags so we can get going."

"But going means that I won't see you for a long time." Quinn complained, nestling her face into Rachel's neck.

"You will most definitely see me; I'll make sure of that. But you'll see me on weekends and time off while you are going to Yale and becoming a success."

"But what if you find someone you like?" Quinn asked.

"Then maybe I can introduce them to the girl I love." Rachel whispered.

"I'm serious Rachel."

"And you think that I'm not?" Rachel did her best imitation of Quinn's eyebrow raise. Quinn had to admit that it was a weirdly good.

"I'm going to miss you so much Rachel." Quinn admitted.

"I won't be that far away. Besides you will be calling me and skyping me and texting me every day." That sounded more like a threat than anything else, but Quinn knew she would anyway.

"It won't be the same though. I won't be able to hold you," Quinn pulled her close. "or kiss you," She kissed Rachel's neck. "or make you feel good." She pushed her thigh between Rachel's legs and started pushing into her. The diva moaned loudly.

"Stop! I know what you're doing. Stop it. We have to go!" Rachel extracted herself from Quinn and put a good metre distance between them.

"But I don't want you to." Quinn whined. Rachel sighed.

"Quinn, one year. That's all I ask, just go to school for one year and then we can be together forever."

"Is that a proposal?" Quinn joked.

"No, that's your job. I expect us to be somewhere high up and for you to get down on one knee and show me a stunning diamond ring with some rubies in the band as you proclaim your undying love for me." Quinn raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"Why am I the one who is proposing?"

"Come on Quinn. Out of the two of us you were always going to be the one who proposes. It's just your job." Rachel said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What if I wait for you to propose?"

"Then we will be girlfriends until you realise that that isn't going to happen, wont we?" Quinn sighed, it was true. Rachel was stubborn and she knew she would give the diva whatever she wanted regardless. "Now, let's go! I want to get there so I can meet my roommate."

"Fine." Quinn huffed. Rachel took her hand and they walked downstairs together each holding a bag.

"Are you going to be grumpy when you say goodbye? I want us to be happy that we are moving on the world, not angry." Rachel complained.

"We would still be moving on in the world even if you would let me just stay at the same place as you." Quinn murmured.

"But then you wouldn't be at Yale having your own life. I want you to have a life outside of me so that way when we are living in New York together you will realise how good I really am and never let me go." Typical Rachel Berry modesty there. Quinn knew that any form of the word modesty and Rachel didn't belong in the same sentence, but Quinn found it adorable.

"Are you saying that I don't already realise how good you are?" Quinn feigned shock by putting her hand over her heart.

"A good kick start to your memory wouldn't hurt." That actually stung Quinn a little. "I'm joking. Now, into the car of adulthood!" Quinn and Rachel got into the back of car that the Berry men were already occupying the front of.

"Ready to go baby girl?" Leroy asked.

"Dad that completely cheapens what I just said!" Rachel looked legitimately annoyed. Quinn kissed her on the cheek and Rachel's pout faded.

"She's ready. Let's go."

-/-

8 hours later, they had arrived in New York. 30 minutes after that, as well as lots of yelling and failed map directions, they had arrived at Rachel's dorm room. It was just across the street from the main part of the school, and it was on the second floor. Everyone grabbed a box and followed Rachel inside. Quinn was mildly surprised to see the door open. Then she heard lots of moving and footsteps. She followed directly behind the diva as she walked in.

What they were met with was a decent sized room that could comfortably hold two people. The walls were bare and a neutral white and the room was sparsely furnished. There was a girl on one side of the room with a small stack of boxes next to her. There were two beds about separated by metre and two bedside tables between them.

"You must be Cynthia." Rachel said walking forward to Cynthia. Cynthia turned around and grinned. Quinn immediately felt a spark of something she hadn't felt in a long time. It was jealousy.

Jealousy really didn't sit well with her and she felt like there was a real reason for it. Cynthia was stunningly beautiful. She had long black hair and flawless olive skin. She was a little taller than Rachel and was quite thin. Quinn had to consciously restrain herself as the two new roommates shook hands. Quinn put the box she was carrying down on Rachel's side of the room and walked over to Cynthia.

"Hi, I'm Quinn, Rachel's girlfriend." Quinn put as much emphasis as she could on the girlfriend part. Although she put on her fake smile, Cynthia seemed to see through it as she looked scared. Rachel looked between the two, then narrowed her eyes at Quinn.

"Quinn, be nice."

"What, I'm just letting her know a little about your life. Isn't that what roommates are supposed to do? Know about each other?"

"Okay, let me have a talk with you Quinn." Rachel smiled and grabbed Quinn's hand so she could yank her out of the room after her. When they were in the hallway, Rachel turned to Quinn. "What are you doing?"

"Making an impression?" Quinn wanted to say she was making herself a threat without using those exact words.

"No, what you were doing was intentionally scaring my new roommate using intimidation."

"If you knew what I was doing then why were you asking?" Quinn asked off-handedly.

"Why, is my question. Why were you trying to scare my roommate?" Rachel asked, sounding a little defeated.

"She needs to know that she can't have you. She needs to know that you're mine and that I'm never letting you go."

"I'm sure she'll respect that. She's probably not even gay." Rachel reasoned.

"That look she gave you was more than friendly Rachel."

"No it wasn't." Quinn walked back to the edge of the doorway of Rachel's new room.

"Hey, are you gay?" She generally wasn't this open about this kind of thing but she needed to make Rachel aware. Cynthia looked shocked for a second.

"I'm bi-. Why?"

"And there you have it Rachel." Quinn turned back around, ignoring Cynthia completely.

"Okay, okay, calm down. Look, I'll just make it perfectly clear that I'm not interested. She probably isn't interested in me anyway. Trust me Quinn; you really have nothing to worry about. I'm with you, I want to be with you, and after you finish school I'll be on Broadway and we will be happy and in love. So please, just calm down and be nice. She has the potential to be a good friend for me. Please don't take that away from me." The way Rachel was pleading with her was making her melt.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a little jealous."

"You have no reason to be."

"I just don't want her to be alone with you."

"Well, that's going to happen whether you like it or not. Quite frankly I'm a little hurt that you don't trust me. We've been together for almost a year and you don't trust me to be around people who could potentially be my friends and people who know what I'm going through. That hurts."

"I trust you, its little miss perfect in there I don't trust." Rachel just sighed. She turned around and went downstairs to supposedly get another box. Quinn shot Cynthia one more dirty look for being the cause of all this before scampering after her.

-/-

Half an hour later, they were finished unpacking all of Rachel's things and getting ready to go. There were many, many tears from the Berry man.

"Our little girl has really grown up." Was repeated many times before Quinn took Rachel into the hallway to say her own goodbye.

"I'm going to miss you so much Rachel." Tears were starting to form in Quinn's eyes.

"Nu-uh. No cry Quinn Fabray. It's only a year." Rachel's own eyes betrayed her as tears began to well up in her own eyes.

"Doesn't mean I won't miss you every minute."

"Not on weekends you won't. I've always said trains are under rated forms of transport, now we get to use them more often." It was true, for some unknown reason, Rachel seemed to love trains.

"In what world are train under rated, thousands of people take them every day."

"Yes, but they complain about them. You will never ever hear me complain about the number of people on a train. I can promise you that." Rachel held her head high as she said that.

"When you break that promise, can I have my way with you?" Quinn dropped her voice to a lower octave.

"Me break a promise? Never! When I take a train and don't complain after the first ten times, I get to have my way with you."

"What if I said that if you let us get an apartment and live here now you could have your way with me in this corridor?"

"Are we having a serious bet here or not?"

"Yes we are. That was also a serious question." Rachel tucked her head into Quinn's neck.

"I'm going to miss you too. But we will Skype and text and call and everything."

"I love you Rachel."

"I love you Quinn." Quinn lowered her head and connected their lips. It was slow and sensual and just plain awesome. It was something the blonde knew she would never get tired of.

An hour later, she was in the car on the way back to Lima and she felt her phone vibrate. She opened up the text to see it was from Rachel. _I miss you xx._ It was then that Quinn put her head down and allowed herself to just cry. She received some worried looks from Hiram and Leroy, but they seemed to know what she was crying about and just let her be.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Fair to say that my inbox exploded with the release of the last chapter. I know that it's mostly people going on from LMB but still, wow. I guess it either shows that you rate me as an author, or that there is now way I could screw this story up. Either way, thanks.**

**Still in basic story and character introduction here so be patient. Things will pick up, I don't know when but they will.**

**Read and Review**

**Quinn's day**

**-/-**

It was only a week after they had taken Rachel to New York but Quinn had still managed to miss her terribly. Communication had been easy enough with calling and Skype and whatnot, but Quinn knew that when semester started, that would change due to classes and workloads.

She was sitting on her bare bed, sitting in her room, surrounded by boxes. She was due to leave later today. She was looking forward to it, but that may just be because she knew that the sooner she started school, the sooner she'd end and the sooner she ended, the sooner she could go and live with Rachel.

That was what was exciting Quinn about this year. It was her chance to get some reasonable education so she could find a job that she might have some aptitude at so she could support Rachel until she was on Broadway. Until she had a real job, she would be stuck doing waitressing and other remedial jobs so that she could at least have some money in the bank to get a good place to live and some furniture.

"Are you ready yet Quinn?" Quinn sighed. Her mother would be taking her to her new dorm. She would have rather have had the Berry's take her, but she knew that it was probably something her mum would be very disappointed to have missed. Quinn had to give it to her mum; she had been trying hard to accept Quinn and Rachel as a couple. It had been a really awkward conversation, but after the school had found out Quinn had made telling her mum as soon as she got home a top priority. She knew that Lima was a small town and that people were gossipy so she thought it best for her mum to hear it from her.

Quinn had made sure that Rachel was there with her. Not only for emotional support, but some help if she got kicked out and needed to pack her stuff quickly. When they had told Judy that they were together, Judy had been silent for a few seconds. It had made Quinn worried, but eventually her mother came to terms with it to and just dealt with it by herself. That made Quinn happy because although she knew her mum was struggling to come to terms with it, she was keeping her opinion to herself and wasn't asking any awkward questions.

Coming out to Rachel's dads was much simpler and far less scary. They knew there would be no judgement there and the only problem would be that it was Quinn, Rachel's old tormentor that Rachel had decided to date. Although Rachel had said time and time again that just because her parents were gay wasn't going to make it any easier and that it was still as nerve racking, Quinn still thought it was a hell of a lot easier without the threat of disowning looming above their heads.

Of course, coming out to both sets of parents did have a major drawback. It ensured that there was an open door policy at both houses, but the girls had been sneaky enough to work their way around that, whether it be to wait for their parents to be out of the house or to find a dark alleyway to park the car.

"Yeah, coming." Quinn called back. She picked up a box and made her way downstairs.

-/-

Quinn couldn't help but have a small sense of foreboding when they arrived at her new dorm building. It's not that she didn't want to go to Yale or learn new things. It's just that she would rather be around Rachel doing it. Moving in to this building just solidified in her mind that it would be a year before she would be able to see Rachel on a day to day basis again.

Then of course, it also reminded her of whom Rachel was now sharing a room with. Cynthia. Just thinking that name made a dirty look cross Quinn's face. Quinn had heard no new developments of Rachel's new roommate, but Quinn knew that that was just because Rachel knew that Quinn didn't like her. Quinn trusted Rachel, but she didn't trust Cynthia. She supposed that that was a little silly as if Rachel didn't partake then it wouldn't really be a problem, but she still disliked that it was a possibility.

There was also Rachel's uncanny knack for trusting and giving people second chances. There were times when Quinn liked this about her; they wouldn't be together if it weren't for that in the first place. Then there were the other times like right now that Quinn wanted Rachel to be as weary as possible. Even though she had made it perfectly obvious that she thought, no knew, that Cynthia was going to hit on the diva, Rachel had pushed this aside saying that they were only roommates and there wasn't going to anything more. Safe to say that Quinn wasn't completely reassured by that.

Quinn grabbed a couple boxes as she got out of the car. Judy followed her lead as they entered the building. Quinn pulled out the piece of paper she had written her dorm room number on. She hadn't been like Rachel and remembered every little thing about where she would be staying mainly because she wasn't as excited about being here as much as Rachel was. Come to think of it, had she called up Rachel now and asked what room she was in, after the rant that she was sure to receive, the diva probably would have been able to tell her the room number.

Nevertheless, Quinn looked around the boxes to the hand that was holding the paper to see that she was in room 13. She smiled. That would be easy to remember as it was her favourite number for no other reason than everyone said it was bad luck. She looked to see what room they were in front of now. 8. That meant that she was still a bit down the hall.

When they arrived out the front of her room, the first thing Quinn noticed was the music. Obviously her new roommate was a muso and that suited Quinn perfectly, as long as her roommate could hold a tune. Realising that she wouldn't be able to open the door without putting any of her boxes down, she kicked the door to knock. After there was no response, Quinn kicked the door harder to be heard over the music.

"Quinn honey, maybe you shouldn't kick the door." Judy said softly.

"Sorry! Coming!" Came the call from inside. Quinn threw her mum a look that said, 'what do you know?' After some banging and curses from the other side of the door, it was opened. Quinn couldn't see who had opened it by her boxes so she just walked inside. She put the boxes down a little way into the room and turned back around to look at her new roommate.

"Hi. I'm Quinn. I'm your new roommate I guess." She said walking forward.

"I'm Brooklyn, but everyone calls me Brook. Nice to meet you Quinn." Brook was a tall girl with red velvet hair. She was fairly thin and looked like someone who knew how to have fun.

"This is my mum. She's just helping me move in some boxes." Quinn indicated to Judy who sent a small wave Sam's way. Sam waved back.

"My parents are at my car getting boxes too. It's going to be really annoying when they leave because mum will start crying and it might make me start crying and then I'll be no fun to be around until tomorrow. It's kinda the reason I've got my music playing, to keep her mood up, you know. It doesn't bother you does it?" Brook suddenly looked a little worried.

"It's fine. Do you have a call on one of the beds yet?" Quinn asked. There was one close to the window and one closer to the bathroom.

"Wanna flip for it?" Brook asked, pulling a coin from her pocket.

"Heads I get the left one. Tails I get the right one." Quinn said. Brook nodded and flipped the coin. When it hit the floor, it stood on its edge for a second before wobbling and falling.

"Heads. That's probably a good thing because I've already put most of my stuff on the right anyway." Judy walked over to the bed on the left, which was the one closer to the window, and dropped the box she was holding onto it.

-/-

An hour later, all of both girls' boxes were secured in their rooms and the parents were getting ready to leave. Quinn was standing back at her mother's car as they said goodbye.

"Look at my little girl. You've grown up so much in the last few years." Judy said in a choked voice. She was quite visibly fighting back tears. Quinn felt a tug on her heart but didn't really think she was going to cry. She was trying to be strong.

"Thanks mum. The only reason I've grown up so much though is because I keep screwing up." Judy laughed weakly.

"I'm so proud of you honey. After everything that has happened to you, you are only a few short days away from starting at Yale! You are going to do something great Quinnie and I hope you don't completely forget me when you do." Tears were beginning to run down both of the blondes' cheeks. Quinn honestly hadn't expected her mum to say anything like this.

"I could never forget you mum. After everything you were always there for me in the end." Quinn furiously wiped away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"I should have been there for you sooner." Judy pulled Quinn into a tight hug.

"Doesn't matter. You were there."

"I'm going to miss you Quinnie."

"You too mum. I love you." Judy pulled away and got into her car.

"I love you to. Now go make me even prouder." Judy said as she got into her car. Quinn waved until her mum was out of sight and then joined Brook at the entrance to their building.

"That was depressing." Brook's mum and dad had also just left. All the parents had decided to leave at the same time.

"I didn't really expect it to be." Quinn mumbled as they began to walk inside.

"Why not? You're leaving your parents behind. That's a major thing in life." Brook said as she pushed open the door to their room.

"I got disowned by my dad at 16 and my relationship with mum was strained after she let him kick me out. She left him and took me back but things were never really the same." Quinn lay down on her back on her bed. She just stared at the ceiling.

"What did you do to make him disown you?" Brook asked in awe, taking a seat on her own bed.

"Got pregnant. Not only that but it was to my boyfriends best friend." Brook whistled in awe.

"Yeah, that's pretty bad. No grounds to disown you, but still pretty bad." Brook corrected herself halfway through that sentence.

"Now I'm dating my ex-boyfriend's ex-girlfriend." Quinn realised that she was being very open with a girl that could quite possibly be very prejudiced against her. "You don't have a problem with that do you?" Quinn asked unsurely.

"Problem with what?"

"Me having a girlfriend." Quinn clarified.

"Not really. As long as you don't try to hit on me or anything. I'm not gay myself but I don't have a problem with people who are." Quinn was very quickly starting to like this girl. "How did your mum take that news?"

"Okay I guess. Better than I would have hoped for by any standards. She didn't kick me out or anything. I can tell she isn't comfortable with it but she hasn't tried to change me." Quinn shrugged.

"That's good I guess. So where are you from?"

"Lima, Ohio. You?"

"Miami. What are you best at at school?"

"Literature I guess. It'll be my major by any rate. What about you?" Quinn was interested to know what this bubbly and seemingly carefree girl was good at.

"Arts. Painting and all that, not performing ones like singing." Quinn probably could have guessed that. This girl was strange, and although she knew it would take a while to really get to know her, she liked all these questions they were asking each other to get basic knowledge.

"So do you have a boyfriend right now?" Quinn asked.

"Nah, I dumped him before I left. I really don't think I can handle long distance. I'm not exactly what you'd call a patient person. So this girlfriend of yours, do you have a picture of her?" That reminded Quinn of something. She sprung up and looked for a specific box.

"Yes I do and it is in a box with a gold star sticker on it." Quinn spotted it near the window and carefully opened it. At the very top was a picture of her with Rachel at a carnival a few weeks before Rachel had to go to New York. Rachel was holding a giant stuffed bear that Quinn had won for her and was kissing her on the cheek while Quinn took the picture with one arm around the diva's small waist. She took it out of the box and walked over and handed it to Brook.

"This is a nice picture." Brook said as she placed it on Quinn's bedside table. Quinn nodded. "So why did you put a gold star on that box? To remember the picture?" Quinn shook her head.

"That's my box filled with my Rachel stuff. She'd kill me if I lost anything. Besides, it's all my most precious possessions." Brook laughed as Quinn ran her fingers over the picture wishing she was with the diva right now.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: It's good that everyone seems to be thinking the same as me for at least the beginning of this story. Lets me know that it's not all that terrible of a storyline if I write it well enough. Again, we are still in the early/establishing stages of this story so please be a little patient.**

**Quinn's Day**

**-/-**

Quinn decided that while she still had a few days before she started school, that she and Brook should explore around their new area. As an added bonus, she could start dropping her resume into some places so she could get herself a job. It wouldn't really need to pay all that much, just enough for food and some small amounts for when she got to move in with Rachel.

"So are we exploring or looking for jobs?" Brook asked as Quinn dropped off her third resume of the trip.

"We can't do both?" Quinn shrugged.

"We can, but I'm starting to doubt that the reason for us leaving the room was to just look around. You could have told me that we would be looking for jobs because then I could have brought one for myself." Brook whined.

"Sorry, I did not think of that. Oh well, I guess I'll be stuck with less competition." Quinn said in a robotic voice and feigned disappointment.

"So that was your plan. Drag me along so that you could look for a job and make sure you get first dibs at them all?"

"No, the plan was to look around and get to know you better. The job thing is just an added bonus. Besides, I need more money than you. I deserve the first chance." To Quinn, that was a very good argument, Brook didn't see the same way though.

"How do you need more money? Who's to say I don't need more money and that you are robbing me the opportunity to live my life as I should?"

"I need more money because I have a very high maintenance girlfriend who likes nice things. I need to get money so I can surprise her and keep her happy for when we move in together by buying her lots of nice furniture and a decent apartment in New York. If you can tell me a way to get that really cheap or easily I would love to hear it." Brook seemed mildly surprised by the reason.

"So you're telling me that you are going to work your ass off and not spend any of it on yourself, just so you can keep your girlfriend happy? I really want to talk to this girl to find out how she got you so whipped. If I find out how to make guys whipped like you are, I'll never have to work another day in my life." Quinn shot her a death glare that would have scared half a football team.

"You go anywhere near Rachel and I swear I'll-"

"I'm not interested in this girl I've never met. I already told you that I'm straight, so deal with it. Now tell me, what makes this girl so special? From hearing most of your life story last night, you don't seem the type to just lie down and take orders from someone." Brook sent Quinn a knowing look. "She really that good in bed?" Quinn sputtered.

"You will probably never know why Rachel is so special. She's nice, sweet, caring, ambitious, cute, funny, smart, pretty, sexy, talented-"

"I get the idea." Brook interjected.

"Trust me, you really don't. But I'll let her talk to you one day. I'll make her come over and then you can see why she's so amazing. But if you touch her-"

"I'M STRAIGHT! Really, how jealous can you get? I honestly cannot believe you are letting her out of your sight at all! You must be like super badass crazy with whoever she is staying with. I'd hate to be that girl."

"You mean that bitch Cynthia? I've already made it clear that she needs to leave Rachel alone, though I doubt it's going to matter. She will make her move on Rachel and I'll have to attack. I've been trying to keep my mind off her but I can't and to top it all off, she's gay!" Quinn realised how long she had been holding all of that in and was glad that it was all out of her now.

"When you bash her, can I come? I don't know if I'd be any help, but I think it would be pretty funny to watch." Brook shrugged.

"You can come, but I'll be watching too. I'll get one of my friend's, her names Santana, to bash her for me. I don't want to hurt my hand and I really want to watch, not participate. I'm not generally violent, but when it comes to Rachel-"

"You're more whipped than cream on a cake. I get it." Brook finished for her.

"I don't care. Anything for Rachel." Brook just shook her head. "Oh, a book store. I should apply there." Quinn was pointing to a book store across the road. Brook gave her an evil look as she followed her across the road.

**-/- Rachel's day**

Rachel was having a less relaxing day than Quinn. She was busy rushing around her dorm room double and triple checking that she had everything she needed. Today was her first day of classes as a NYADA student and she was really excited albeit a little nervous. She was handling pretty well compared to Cynthia who looked a little like she was going to be sick.

"Don't be so nervous. We got into the school for a reason. Even though I've known I was going to be attending this school since I was in diapers, I assure you that you must have at least some fraction of the talent I have and belong at this school. Maybe not as much as I do, but belonging is belonging I guess." Rachel personally thought that that was a pretty good pep talk. Cynthia on the other hand seemed less inspired.

"So you are telling me that you aren't nervous? What if you screw up?" Cynthia really looked quite dishevelled.

"I don't screw up. Well, apart from my audition. But I still was good enough to get myself a spot in here so I'm really not all that worried. I'm a star. I know it. My girlfriend knows it. My parents know it. Soon enough, the world is going to know it." In typical Rachel Berry fashion, she found that her arms were extended out to her sides and she was looking towards an imaginary spotlight.

"Your humility is amazing." Cynthia deadpanned. Rachel narrowed her eyes at Cynthia.

"I've come from a school where I got slushied almost daily in every year except senior. I was forced to either have confidence in myself and be the star that I am or go with the flow and end up a Lima Loser. If I had of gone with the latter I wouldn't be here right now and I would most likely be single."

"That'd be a shame." Cynthia mumbled it softly enough for Rachel not to hear it properly. "Well you ready to go and feel the pain?"

"That attitude is pretty terrible. You should be excited to be attending such a prestigious school. It is not a drag or something you are being forced to do." Rachel said with a small tone of superiority.

"Which explains perfectly why you have been sad and depressed over the last couple of days."

"That has nothing to do with being at this school. I am in fact very excited and eager to be starting today and have been waiting for this moment almost as long as I have been waiting to get onto Broadway."

"Then what's with the sadness?"

"I've been apart from Quinn for too long and she hasn't called me or Skyped me once. But I guess she's been busy getting herself ready for Yale." That always made her feel proud. Her girlfriend was going to Yale! Two words she had never expected to think at all a year ago were now being used in the same mind sentence. Girlfriend and Yale. It made her shiver slightly with excitement.

"What kind of a girlfriend doesn't call or text her girlfriend? That's a weak effort. Something I would never let happen." Rachel's face contorted in anger a little. Was this girl seriously bagging her girlfriend?

"Quinn's obviously been busy getting herself ready for Yale. Besides, I haven't called her either so it's not like she's to blame. She could just be waiting for me to call her so she knows I'm settled."

"You shouldn't have to call her. She should be calling you. Maybe she just doesn't care all that much." Cynthia shrugged. Rachel just shook her head. Of course Quinn cared about her. She was just getting herself ready for Yale. Cynthia wouldn't understand that, she was single after all.

"Let's just go." Rachel said darkly.

-/-

Rachel walked back into her dorm room at the end of the day with a massive smile on her face. That was quite possibly the best day of school she had had in her life. She let herself fall down on her bed, completely content. She was just about to text Quinn when a thought struck her. If Quinn wanted to talk to her, she would text. It wasn't that what Cynthia had said had gotten to her; it was just that... she had had some valid points.

It did make her feel a little sad that here she was, not texting her girlfriend, due to some fears a person who knew exactly nothing about Quinn had placed in her mind. But then again, maybe Quinn wanted her space. They had to try and be at least a little independent from each other. Oh how she wanted Quinn to try and talk to her though.

Almost as if her phone had read her mind, it started to ring. Rachel tried to keep her hopes pretty low. After all, her dads' hadn't called her either. She calmly looked at her phone, but squealed when she saw that it was Quinn calling.

"Hi Quinn." Rachel said a little breathlessly.

"Is this a bad time? Do I need to call you back?" Quinn sounded slightly panicked.

"No, of course not. Why?"

"You sound out of breath. Are you alright?" Oh, that made sense.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just really happy that you called me." She could almost hear Quinn smirk on the other end of the line. "Don't look so smug about it."

"How do you know I'm looking smug? I'm actually a little offended that you would think that I would ever look smug about anything." Rachel laughed but quickly became more serious.

"I miss you."

"I miss you too. I would've called, but I've been really busy getting ready for Yale. Now we should have more time to talk. How was your first day?" Quinn was so thoughtful. Rachel now started to feel really bad for even thinking that Cynthia had any basis whatsoever. Of course Quinn needed to get ready for Yale.

"I love this school so much. Almost as much as you! It's got everything I could ever need. And everyone's so nice. Well, they're not all nice nice, but they aren't throwing things at me and calling me names while throwing me into dumpsters!" Rachel was a little saddened by how excited she sounded about that.

"Rachel I am so-"

"It's okay Quinn. I know you're sorry and you've changed. You make me happy now."

"That doesn't make up for it."Rachel face palmed.

"Let it go Quinn. Please." Rachel was growing a little tired of Quinn being so sorry about that. Why couldn't she just let it go?

"Sorry Rachel, can you hang on a sec." There was some rustling before Rachel heard a new voice. It was very quite though as it was clear that this person wasn't holding the phone.

"Come on Quinn. Let me talk to her for like five minutes. I just want to know how she got you so whipped. It's all I ask." Rachel burst out laughing.

"Brook, no. I haven't talked to her in over a week. Maybe some other time." There was a second gap where Quinn was supposedly putting the phone back to her ear. "Sorry about that Rachel."

"Is that your new roommate?"

"Yes, and she obviously doesn't understand the concept of leave my time with my girlfriend alone." Quinn said that bit loud enough for her roommate to hear a distance away.

"We could just go on Skype." Rachel suggested. This would also give Rachel a look at Quinn's new roommate. She kind of wanted to scope out if she was a nut bag or not.

"Rachel we haven't been able to talk in ages. You can talk to her tomorrow if you really want to. Right now I just want to talk to you." Rachel was slightly touched that she was the only thing Quinn wanted her attention on. It made her feel special.

"So, have you looked around your new area? Do you like it? Wait, do you like your new roommate?" Rachel could sense a gossip opportunity here.

"Yes, yes and yes. This place seems pretty cool and friendly. Brook, well, she's a little out there but seems nice and friendly. And she likes music and has pretty good taste too." Rachel heard a faint 'I heard that'. "Good thing I didn't say that you are a bitch who has crappy taste in music then isn't it?" Rachel laughed. It sounded like this Brook did too.

"That's good. When do you have your first class?"

"Next Monday. I'm really excited because my first class is lit and-"

The girls were still talking two hours later when Rachel's phone beeped because it was due to go flat. Even then, Rachel just put it on charge.

"I had better let you go Quinn. I don't want to make your roommate feel neglected." Rachel said sadly.

"Okay. I'll Skype you tomorrow. When you get to see her, please don't scream."

"Okay, bye. Love you."

"Love you too Rach."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Things are getting harder and harder to write for this story while they are apart. This is going to take some out-of-the-box thinking, but we should get there. So, feel free to send me any suggestions you might have whether they be ideas for the story or any kind of problems you see. **

**Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. It was going to be longer, but it was late, I wanted to get this up and I really didn't see the point of making you guys wait another 24 hours for 200 words.**

**Read and review**

**Quinn's day**

**-/-**

Quinn was really starting to settle in nicely in her new dorm room. It was in a nice area, her roommate was nice and fun, the room was spacious and much more. Really, the only thing that could be improved upon was the distance it was from Rachel. Though, then again, she could blame the school for that.

The distance was proving to be really hard for Quinn. She just wanted to touch Rachel. All the time. Not only that, but she was starting to get a little irritable and was having minor mood swings. It was probably fair to guess that she wanted Rachel to touch her too. She probably would have already had a visit to Rachel's dorm room if she had of started at Yale yet.

Tomorrow was the big day however and Rachel had insisted that she make sure she had all her stuff. Quinn didn't see how that was an all day affair, but Rachel had insisted and Quinn was really in the mood to argue. Video chats could only handle so much of her Rachel craving. She needed to touch and feel. Right now it didn't even need to be anything sexual, just hand holding or cuddling would do her pretty well.

"So are you seriously going to go over your stuff all day?" Brook was lying on her bed, watching Quinn with little interest.

"What Rachel and I talk about is none of your business. I don't think you should be listening in on my phone conversations." Quinn didn't really care; she was just trying to see if she could have some fun.

"I'm your dorm buddy. You have to tell me everything, so I may as well hear it from the source. It's a non-written law that I am allowed to listen to your phone conversations with your girlfriend. It's my right... No, my responsibility. Unless of course there is some sex talk going on, you can keep that to yourselves." Brook looked satisfied with her little speech. Quinn had to admit, it was pretty impressive if there was no planning involved.

"Oh, yeah. Because me and Rachel whisper dirty things to each other all the time over the phone. Get real." Quinn started laughing at how ridiculous.

"You won't think it's so funny when it's been a while since you've seen her. But whatever, back to my original question. Are you going to go over your stuff all day? That is so boring." Brook whined.

"What? You want to watch me go over my stuff?" Quinn teased.

"No, I want to do something."

"Which would be...?"

"I don't know, you think of something." Quinn groaned. She wanted something fun to do just as much as Brook sis. She was just hoping that she wouldn't have to come up with the idea.

"Well I'm quite happy just making sure I'm prepared for tomorrow. If you can offer me an alternative that is more exciting I would be very surprised and would like to hear it." Quinn said simply.

"Yeah right. You wanna go over your stuff less than I want to watch you. Just hurry up and come up with something to do so we can both be put out of our misery." Brook saw right through her. Quinn really wasn't sure whether or not it was a good thing.

"Who's to say that I'm not just a stick in the mud that enjoys order?" Quinn asked with the straightest face she could muster.

"If you really were a stick in the mud then you wouldn't be calling yourself a stick in the mud. Besides, in this last week I have learned that your life is very rarely boring. Whether that's just you or your luck I'm not completely sure about yet, but either way you should be able to come up with something fun to do." Brook said. Quinn was really starting to regret telling this girl her life story.

"What about you Miss 'I'm a party girl who makes jokes about everything and is always fun'? Where are your ideas? I never laid claim to being fun or exciting, that's what you supposedly do." Quinn had her here. Most of Brook stories circled around her being the life of a party and doing things that were probably inappropriate or immature but made things fun.

"I do things when we are already at the place or doing something. I'm no leader; I just tag along and make things funny. You were a head cheerleader that won at nationals. That automatically means that you must be a leader and come up with the ideas. So, start thinking. Wake me when you get an idea and make sure it's a good one." Brook began to lie down in her bed.

"Oh no you don't. If I think of something and you're asleep, I'll leave without you." Quinn threatened.

"What kind of a roommate does that?" Brook looked appalled.

"The same type that is allowed to listen in on phone conversations. The closest friends there are." Quinn mocked.

"Fine, but come up with an idea quickly." Brook grumbled.

"Well, do you like art?"

"Looking at it or drawing it?"

"Both? Either?" Quinn was confused how you could like one and not the other.

"I don't really like looking at it. I find it really boring after the first few." Quinn shrugged. That was pretty true.

"Well then we can go buy some pencils and art books and play a sketching game." Quinn suggested. Brook seemed to think it over for a second.

"You mean like Pictionary?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"Fine, but do you know where we are going or should I Google it?" Brook asked dead seriously. "I don't really feel like getting lost the day before our first day at college."

"We won't get lost. Where's your sense of adventure?" Quinn asked as she got up.

"I'm being serious. Do I need to Google it or not?"

"So am I. I know where the place is though. I remember it from when we went exploring." Quinn said.

"You mean job searching." Brook muttered.

"Well, that too. Let's go."

-/-

"What do you mean we're lost? You said you knew where we were going! I said that I could look it up on Google, but oh no, 'you know where it is'." Brook was fuming.

"I did know where it was. I never said we were lost." Quinn said as she shook the bag in her hand. "We have the stuff don't we?"

"Yeah, but I'm convinced that it took longer than necessary to get here and now we don't know the way back. That means that we're lost. We should have brought a map." Brook whined.

"Calm down for a second. Navigating isn't really that hard when you live right next to a massive landmark like we do." Quinn said softly.

"Which is...?" Brook seemed sceptical.

"Umm, Yale?" Quinn looked at Brook like she was some kind of fool. "Seriously, it's not that hard. Watch this." Quinn walked over to a group of people that looked like they were roughly twenty. "Can any of you guys tell me which way Yale is?" Quinn asked.

"You lost your school? That's a new one." One of them said.

"Can you help me or not?" Quinn asked in a faux exhausted voice. She knew how to get people's pity.

"Yeah, it's that way. Just follow that road and you'll get there." They all pointed in the one direction.

"Thanks." Quinn walked back over to Brook. "See? Easy, we just have to follow that road."

"My objections weren't based on the difficulty of returning to our room. I was merely saying that I was right and that we should have just Goggled it." Brook said.

"I knew how to get here!" Quinn protested.

"We didn't just go down that road like we should have." Brook pointed out.

"I took the scenic route." Quinn lied.

"If it helps you sleep at night." Brook shrugged. Quinn glared at her.

"Who was the one asking me for something to do? So shut up." That was a terrible argument and Quinn knew it. Brook just shrugged again though. "Let's just go back to the dorm room and draw okay? Relaxing, entertaining and all is good."

"Whatever you say."

"Damn right whatever I say." Quinn said as she began walking down the road to her room. After a few seconds, she heard Brook begin to walk behind her. Once they were in the room, Quinn tipped the bag upside down on her bed. She then threw a sketchbook, pencils and an eraser onto Brook's bed.

"Okay, so what are we going to do? Just try and guess what each other are drawing?" Brook asked, settling on top of her bed.

"Yeah, I'm cool with that."

-/-

An hour later, the girls had stopped playing their game in favour of doing some longer term, more thought out drawings. Quinn was making sure she was taking her mind. Although they had both said that they were just going to draw casually for fun, it really was a competition and Quinn knew it. She was taking her time like never before, fixing any small mistakes and generally just drawing her heart out.

"So Quinn, what are you drawing now?" Brook asked conversationally. Wouldn't you like to know? Think it will give you the edge huh?

"A beach at night." She didn't feel the need to lie. She thought this was a pretty decent picture so far and that it was probably better than anything that Brook would come up with. "What about you?"

"A tree." Yeah, she had this thing in the bag. A tree versus a beach? The beach every time. "Are you almost done?" Quinn looked over her work with a critical eye.

"Pretty much. Just a bit of shading and I'll be done." She quickly finished off her work. With one more quick look she turned it around for Brook to see. She smiled, feeling pretty proud of herself.

"That's pretty good." Quinn's eyes narrowed.

"That sounded a little patronising. Let's see yours then." Quinn pushed. She wanted to know why her work was only 'pretty good'. Quinn personally thought it was pretty freaking amazing. It had taken her the better part of an hour which was a good deal of time for such a small picture. It was probably one of the best pictures she had ever drawn, and at McKinley she was often complimented her drawing skills.

When Brook turned her sketchbook around though, Quinn was a little pissed. Apparently, Brook was one of those people who could draw, like, really well. It made the competition pretty unfair.

"Good thing this wasn't a competition. If it was, I'd have been in a bit of trouble." Quinn laughed. Now that she thought about it, Brook had said she was good at art on their first night together. It made her feel pretty stupid to forget that, but she knew she wouldn't ever again. That tree Brook had drawn was amazing! The lines, the detail, the shading. It was all just awesome.

"Well, I am known for my drawing. I hope I get a job where I can draw stuff; that would be mega awesome. I would love to be able to just sit and draw something for a day, then come home and actually have a home to go to." Quinn couldn't help but agree with that. She wished she have something she was really passionate about that she could earn money doing. Rachel had performing, Brook had art. Quinn had stuff she was good at, just not to that kind of level.

"I wish I could have something that I liked as much as you like art. Really, after school I really still don't have any plans of what I want to do apart from support Rachel in any way I can. Even to do that I'm going to need something I'm good at. Sometimes I feel like I'm not good enough for her, you know." Quinn admitted.

"Says the girl who made me come with her to go looking for jobs so she could not spend any of it, but save it for her girlfriend. You'll think of something Quinn. You know how people always say that if you put your mind to it you can achieve anything? Well for people like you, that's actually true. For people like me though, they should say 'find the one thing you're good at and stick to it like gum on a shoe'." Quinn smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Small time jump that you guys are probably smart enough to keep up with. Other than that, not much to say really.**

**Read and Review**

**Rachel's day**

**-/-**

Rachel detested this form of public transport. Trains were the worst way to get anywhere. Quinn was worth it of course, but she would really rather not have to put up with the cramped spaces and overheating. Then there was the noise! Did these people have some kind of problem with not shouting at each other or something?

She was packed tighter than a can of tuna. This was exactly the reason she was a vegan. Well, part of it. What on Earth deserved to be treated like this? She didn't like it, and this was one of the very rare times she had had to do it. It was hard to believe that some people had to do this every day. She was certain that when she was on Broadway she would make sure that she always caught some civilised form of transport such as a car or limo.

When she arrived at her station, she couldn't have been more pleased. Not only was it a long trip, but a sucky one at that. She quietly wondered if all train rides were like that. When she saw Quinn on the other side of the turnstile waiting for her, she couldn't help the little squeal that emitted from her nor her natural instinct to run.

She fumbled with her ticket as she ran it through the machine, and as soon as the turnstile allowed her to pass, she was in Quinn's arms. She was content just like this, but apparently Quinn wasn't. She started to pull away and grabbed Rachel's hand.

"So how was the train ride?" Quinn asked as they walked to the exit.

"Don't even get me started. Train is the worst form of transport we have and however invented it although may have been a genius at the time, has no place in common day society as an inventor. It was so hot and stuffy and compact. I'm surprised I made it out alive." Quinn was just looking at her and smiling knowingly. "What?" Quinn leaned into her ear.

"Now I get to have my way with you. I'll kick Brook out. She's smart; she'll find somewhere to sleep." Rachel was about to ask what Quinn was on about but then she remembered. The bet.

"No Quinn that's not fair. You can't seriously expect to hold me to that."

"And why not?"

"Because I didn't know it was going to be that bad. You could have told me it was going to be that bad!" Rachel was really a little annoyed at how Quinn could have left her so high and dry like that. What kind of a girlfriend was she?

"I did warn you. Quite expressively actually. That's the whole reason we had the bet in the first place." Oh right. That's why. Rachel pouted; there was really nothing else she could do. "You make it look like it's going to be a bad thing Rachel. Trust me, that pout will be gone when you are screaming my name." The worst part was Rachel didn't doubt that. At all. In fact, she very much expected it.

-/-

Rachel was quite excited to meet Quinn's new roommate. Quinn had been, for all intents and purposes, very selfish with her phone time when talking to Rachel. She was very flattered by this. She understood it because she really wanted to only talk to Quinn too, but that didn't mean she wasn't eager to meet this as Quinn had described, 'special girl'. Apparently, she wasn't Brittan special, more worldly special.

"Please don't kick Brook out straight away." Rachel pleaded.

"If I don't, she probably just watch us. She'll be stunned into paralysis by watching me ravage you." Quinn said confidently. Rachel wasn't amused.

"I'm serious Quinn; I want to meet this girl properly." She needed more than someone else's vision of this girl. She needed her own vision.

"I was joking. I won't kick her out straightaway. I'll tell her she can't stay here but she will only have to leave when it gets a bit dark. That's when the fun time happens." Quinn said pushing the door to the building open. Both girls were mildly surprised to see the redhead standing against the wall with her hands in her pocket, just next to the door to Quinn's room.

"Couldn't have waited an extra 30 seconds for me to get her into our room?" Quinn asked. So this was the famous Brook. Rachel looked her over. Quinn had been right; she did look like everything that encompassed fun.

"You must be Brook. I'm Rachel."

"I know who you are. You are the soon to be Broadway star Rachel Berry who used to get tormented and then got the biggest bitch at the school to fall in love with her. Good tactics by the way. You are also the girl who is tapping my girl here." Brook nodded in Quinn's direction.

"MY girl. Not yours." Rachel clarified. Brook just started laughing.

"I'm straight. What do you two seem to find so hard to believe about that? I mean really, if I wanted to have Quinn, not only would she bash the shit out of me for trying, but I would have done it already. I'm not as serious in relationships as you guys seem to be so letting someone slip by isn't that much of a loss if I get rejected."

"It's good that you know I would hurt you for trying." Quinn quipped. Rachel had to admit that that was also the only part of the speech that she found comforting in any way. Brook shrugged.

"So are we just going to stand out here all night?" Brook asked as she walked inside of the room.

"Which reminds me, you need to find somewhere to stay tonight." Quinn said as she followed Brook into the room with Rachel in tow.

"That's cool; I'll just head over to one of the girls in my art class. She seems alright and we had lunch a few days ago. She gave me an open invitation that may or may not have been for this exact reason. Who knows though? I'll text her." Rachel was surprised that Brook was taking this all so calmly. It was as if she wasn't shocked at all that she was being kicked out. In fact...

"You guys have been talking about this haven't you? Oh my God Quinn! That's so embarrassing! I can't believe you."

"Whoa. We haven't been talking about it. Granted, Brook kinda tried to but I stopped her. She said that she was open to leaving the room on nights where I needed you." Rachel looked at Brook with a newfound respect. It was good to know that Quinn had a roommate who was going to look out for her. It was a little bit of an uncomfortable topic, but Rachel was glad that Brook was willing to look past that to make sure Quinn didn't get 'frustrated.'

"Thank-you for that Brook. It is greatly appreciated." Rachel didn't like the idea of Quinn being frustrated or uncomfortable in any way. She always felt the need to thank people when they were helping her out.

"RACHEL!" Apparently Quinn did not see things the same way.

"What Quinn? It is on my behalf if not yours."

"Says the girl who not five minutes ago was complaining about very much the same thing." Quinn said. Rachel glared at her. "Tell me I'm wrong." Rachel couldn't. She had, so it was fair for Quinn to feel a little embarrassed.

"So, I think we should save this for when I'm gone don't you think? I mean, you can find it in your bodies to last a few hours can't you?" Brook asked. Rachel wasn't sure if she as serious or not so she decided to answer anyway.

"I assure you that we both can. I had already made it clear to Quinn that I didn't want to kick you out any sooner than necessary. I would like to get to know her roommate so there is no awkwardness between us when I threaten you for unfound reasons."

"So you think that if you know me and threaten me that it will be less awkward. I'm not sure that's true." Brook said.

"Well, Quinn says that you are fun anyway. I could always use a new friend."

"Everyone can always use a new friend Rachel. Quinn tells me that you are very special, but that is something everyone has in common."

-/-

"I think its tome for you to go Brook." Quinn said.

"Quinn! That is no way to treat your roommate." Rachel was slightly appalled.

"She already knows she's being kicked out. I don't see how me telling her that the kicking out is happening is any better than that. If you can think of a nicer way of saying, 'get out and let me have some time with my girlfriend' I would like to hear it." Rachel thought for a second.

"Okay true, but you still didn't need to say it like that."

"Okay, fine. I see where I'm not wanted." Brook joked.

"It's good that you have that skill. Now get out and come back tomorrow." Quinn said.

"Quinn!" Rachel was shocked at Quinn right now.

"Right, sorry Rachel. What you are doing is greatly appreciated. Bye now." Brook laughed as she walked out the door. Rachel glared at Quinn.

"Bye girls. Have fun." Brook closed the door behind her.

"Don't give me that look Rachel. She knows I was joking."

"That maybe so but that doesn't make it alright for you to speak to your roommate like that." Rachel said.

"I'll get her some flowers when she gets back then, okay? Will that make you feel better about it?" They were sitting on Quinn's bed next to each other and Rachel noticed that Quinn was slowly closing the already tiny gap between them.

"It might." Rachel gulped because Quinn was now so close that the sides of their bodies were now touching and Quinn was rubbing circles just on the inside of her thigh. Normally, she would be able to put up with this kind of treatment and continue with her argument, but it had been so long. She knew she was a goner.

"I could also make it up to you right now." Quinn moved her body behind Rachel's slightly so she could start kissing Rachel's neck. It was driving her crazy.

"I'll bet you could." Rachel shivered. "Please kiss me." Quinn immediately moved herself in front of Rachel and pushed her down onto the bed. Rachel hooked her arms around Quinn's neck and pulled her down into a searing kiss. Rachel groaned when she felt Quinn's hands start to squeeze her breasts.

"Get naked Rachel." This was a first. Whenever they had had sex, they had always taken each other's clothes off. They had been rough, soft and done many, many different styles, but that was not an order Rachel had ever heard. She could feel her arousal weeping from her centre as she unclothed herself and Quinn watched.

"Good, now lay face down on the bed and look forward." Rachel really didn't want to obey that order, but she had lost the bet. She had made a promise, and she kept her promises. She was left with the sounds of Quinn undressing herself. It made Rachel throb.

"Ready for some fun baby?" Quinn asked in the sexiest voice Rachel had ever heard.

"Yes. So much. You really don't have any idea."

"Oh, I'll bet I do." The next thing Rachel knew, she could feel Quinn's dripping centre on her ass.

"Quinn what are you- oh my god." Quinn had started grinding herself down onto Rachel, forcing Rachel down onto the bed. Her clit felt so good and it was driving her insane. Deciding that she could and should help, Rachel started to hump the bed. It was making Quinn bounce on and off her while increasing her friction with the bed.

"So good Rachel. Don't stop."

"Never." Quinn just kept on surprising her. Rachel knew she would soon be pushed over the edge just from this, but Quinn seemed to want more, reaching down and sliding her fingers into Rachel's heat. Rachel didn't stop moving though, and as she humped Quinn's bed, the fingers were forced further and further inside.

"Quinn, I'm going to cum."

"Me too. Do it now. Squeeze my fingers." Quinn's words pushed her over the edge. She thought she was dying of pleasure when everything went white and she screamed Quinn's name. Quinn managed to cum as well. She screamed Rachel's name and fell flush against her. When they had regained their breath, Rachel only had one question.

"My turn?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: In all honesty, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with this story. I know what I want to do; I just don't know how to get there. I mean, I never have a plan, but I usually have some basic idea of what I'm going to do. All I'll try and do until that point is have some small time jumps to keep the story moving and try to keep things interesting.**

**This is only for the people that have read After You. First of all, I told you that I suck at endings. You people should really start believing me. What I really wanted to say though was that I may do another sequel, but if I do it won't be up for a long time. And I mean a LONG time. After this is finished, I have an idea for another story. Actually, that's not true. I have several ideas for several different stories. Kinda sucks that I have tons for other things but not for this. Oh well, I will press on though.**

**Back to everyone. As I am... not stuck, but having difficulty with ideas, I was wondering what people would prefer. Should I just focus all of my attention onto this, or start the other fic, and update this when I can. It would probably mean better chapters, but longer update times. Feel free to have your say in either a review or a pm.**

**-/-**

Rachel was feeling good about herself lately. She was doing well in school, making new friends, being commended on her skills by her teachers; things were just going her way. Of course, it wasn't perfect. It was missing Quinn. She was actually pretty proud of herself for making new friends. It was really the first time she'd had any that Quinn hadn't hand delivered to her. It made her feel more independent and like she had earned them.

That was something Rachel had never felt with Santana and Brittany. They had become her friends, but she had done nothing to earn their friendship. She deserved it for the way that they had treated her, but that didn't mean she had earned it. Quinn had gifted them to her. The equation was simple. No Quinn, not friendship. Well, not with the cheerleaders anyway; she may have managed to salvage some uncool friends if she hadn't of been the main target of her girlfriend's ridicule.

"Hey Rach, do you want to rehearse some of your lines for class?" Rachel had lucked out with her roommate. This girl was perfect. She was just as driven as Rachel, but she was more willing to take the backseat. She was always prepared to run lines, or sing songs, or practice whatever it was that Rachel wanted to do. An added plus was that she wasn't as talented as the diva herself. They both knew it, even if neither said it. Whenever Rachel caught Cynthia looking at her, it was always a look of admiration. Rachel loved the attention.

"Sure. We can start from scene two and work our way from there." The girls had gotten to know each other much better over the last few weeks. The late nights and only having each other to rely on didn't really much choice, but Rachel was happy with it anyway. It gave her someone to take her mind off of Quinn.

Their schedules conflicted pretty badly. Quinn was always somewhere and could never talk. Rachel wasn't happy that the blonde wouldn't give her a definitive answer of where she was all the time either. It was always just, 'making things easier for when I get out of school.' Obviously there was some ongoing effort that apparently Rachel couldn't be a part of herself. It was frustrating, but there wasn't a lot Rachel could do. She couldn't withhold sex due to their distance, and she couldn't bring herself to give her girlfriend the cold shoulder; they barely spoke as it was.

That was where a fault of Cynthia started to show. Whenever Rachel would express these feelings to her, she would always call Quinn a bad girlfriend. Rachel never fought back, which made her feel bad about herself. If she couldn't stand up for her girlfriend who could she stand up for?

-/-

An hour later, Rachel had had enough of going over her lines. She checked her phone for any knew messages. She checked them more frequently than she would care to admit, always hopeful to see Quinn's name flash on her screen. It rarely appeared though. She had a message today. The smile on her didn't completely drop, but fell dramatically when she saw it was from Santana.

_**Hi Berry. Now that u've had time to settle in how u doin? **_Rachel's smile picked up a little bit. It was a very Santana message. Knows that it could do one thing differently to be correct, but is wrong on purpose not for ease, just to be cooler.

_**I am good thank-you Santana. I have settled in well and am being the star we all knew that I would be.**_ Rachel waited for a reply for a minute, but got nothing back. She was about to start listening to her IPod when a message finally came through. It wasn't what she had expected.

_**I no this is gonna sound harsh but u were always gonna b a loner. Even u new dat so r u being the str u were gonna b, or th now? **_That was a good question. It did hurt a little that Santana had said she was going to be a loner, but it was probably true.

_**I'm not a loner. I have my roommate and I have made plenty of new friends. I can survive without other people's guidance you know.**_ The next reply came much more quickly.

_**And what about Quinn?**_ Rachel had to think about that. She was missing Quinn terribly, but she didn't need to alert Santana to that. She also didn't want to put Quinn under any more pressure than she probably already was. She was at Yale after all. Besides, she was probably being unreasonable. She was just used to having Quinn at her disposal every moment of everyday, any less than that was sure to throw her out a bit.

_**Distance is difficult. I am coping though. My roommate has helped me a lot.**_ Rachel looked over her phone to her roommate who was going through music on her laptop and smiled.

_**Thats wat im worried bout **_Rachel's eyebrows narrowed.

_**Worried? Why would you be worried about anything?**_

_**Remember that you have a girlfriend who is working her ass off 4 u.**_

_**You think I could possible just forget about Quinn? You think that I don't think of her every day wishing she would call me or text me or anything?**_Rachel only noticed that shewas crying when a tear fell onto her phone.

_**Just keep in mind that u rnt in lima anymore. Ppl don't care if ur attached or not.**_

_**How would you know? You have never met her. She's different.**_

_**Do you stand up for Quinn like that?**_ Rachel put her phone on the floor next to her. Santana knew her too well. The Latina was probably the only person who would be able to anticipate what was happening in Rachel's life. It was slightly freaky that Santana could guess that Rachel was being less faithful than she should be, but it was true nonetheless.

Rachel moved herself onto her bed and lay face down on her bed, head in her pillows. She knew that tears were going to mar her face when she stopped crying later, but she could worry about that when it happened. Right now, she just needed to have a good cry. She was angry at herself; for good reason to.

"Rachel, are you okay?" The diva felt her bed dip. Then she felt arms wrap around her. She pulled Cynthia close as the girl started to rock her slightly and whisper encouragements into her ear. It was strange; she had only ever been in this position with Quinn. Now it was about Quinn, and she was with someone else. It wasn't bad, just different.

Eventually, she stopped crying. Even after she had stopped crying for a few minutes though, she was still in Cynthia's arms. She was warm and feeling safe. She needed to feel safe right now. She nestled her head into Cynthia's chest further. She didn't really want to, but after a few more minutes, she pulled herself away.

"You want to talk about it?" Cynthia asked, not making a move to release the diva.

"No. I'm okay." The last thing she wanted to do was talk about it. She knew that Cynthia didn't really like Quinn, and it wouldn't take much for her to start insulting her. And of course, right now, Rachel wasn't too sure she could or would even defend her girlfriend. She wanted to, she just couldn't. She didn't know what it was stopping her, but there was obviously something.

"You can't just cry like that and expect me to think that you're okay. What's wrong?"

"I miss Quinn."

"Don't. She obviously isn't good enough for you. She doesn't understand how hard it is to be the best. She doesn't know how lonely you can get. Either that or she just doesn't care. If she did, she would either be here with you or calling and texting and telling you how much she wished she was here with you." Rachel pulled away and picked her phone up off the ground. "Where are you going?" Cynthia asked as Rachel made her way over to the door.

"I'm going for a walk. I need time to sort out everything. I'll be back later." She closed the door behind her as she walked outside. This was the best option. Go away from the person who continuously made Quinn seem more horrible than she was, and think about things. Avoid being overly emotional.

That was something that Quinn had pointed out about her when they were at school. One time Rachel had walked in on Quinn and Santana hugging. Naturally, she had started ranting as soon as she had seen them. When the reason was explained to the diva, she had felt horrible. Apparently, one of Santana's aunts had just died.

As Rachel exited the building, she opened her phone again. If Quinn wasn't going to talk to her, she was going to talk to Quinn. Once she had finished the text, she looked back over it. She deleted it quickly. She took a breath and calmed herself down. Being mad at Quinn and reflecting that in a text wasn't going to make things better. She tried again.

_**I miss you. Please talk to me.**_ That was a better text. It still wasn't fair to Quinn, the girl had done nothing wrong and now she was going to feel guilty. Rachel could live with that though as long as she got a decent text back.

_**Sorry Rachel, Quinn isn't here. She's at work and seems to have forgotten her phone. I'll tell her you texted though.**_ Rachel's head fell to one side of her head in confusion. _**It's Brook BTW. **_Rachel mouthed 'oh' at the explanation. Then the substance of the first message got into her head.

_**Quinn has a job? **_She asked. That was the first she was hearing of this.

_**Don't tell her I told you that. She said it was supposed to be a secret. Clearly I did that poorly didn't I? **_Rachel couldn't help but agree. She wasn't going to tell the other girl this though.

_**You may have failed Quinn, but you have made me feel much better. Even Quinn would prefer that.**_ That was true. Quinn always said she wanted what would make Rachel happy.

_**Just don't tell her I told you. And why were you feeling bad? **_Rachel was stuck. She had no one to talk to about this. Maybe the blonde's roommate would be a good person to confide in. The problem was, she didn't want Quinn knowing.

_**If I tell you, you can't tell Quinn, okay?**_

_**Sure.**_

_**I miss Quinn. She doesn't seem to want to talk to me. We haven't been able to talk on the phone, or Skype or anything. I miss her so much and my roommate is continuously reminding me that a good girlfriend would be putting in more effort. Santana texted me today and made me realise that I haven't been standing up for Quinn like I should be. **_There was a long gap before the reply.

_**I know that I've never met this girl, but maybe you should tell her to pull her head in? Quinn's doing everything she can Rachel.**_ That was part of what Rachel was afraid of. She was being selfish while Quinn was doing whatever she was doing to make things easier. Knowing Quinn, she was probably working ridiculous hours to try and make money. That money was probably also being saved up for Rachel.

_**Please tell me Quinn isn't going overboard working.**_ There was only a short gap this time.

_**I think we should change the subject then...**_Rachel sighed.

_**Can you get her to call me when she gets back home then?**_

_**I don't think that's a great idea. She gets back ridiculously late and won't want to wake you.**_

_**Tell her I'll be waiting up for her call. If I don't get it, I'll be having an all-nighter.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Just in case that last notice gave you the wrong impression, I won't be changing my plan for this story in the slightest. I don't get sad, I get defensive. Oh, and don't think this was a quick fix because in this chapter, very little has really happened.**

-/-

Quinn was half asleep as she trudged back to her dorm room. When she actually made it to the door, she saw a note. Deciding that she could read it in bed, she pulled it off and walked inside. She walked to her bad and kicked off her shoes without bothering with the laces. She then let herself fall face down on the bed.

Although she was pretty happy to just fall asleep on her face like she was, Quinn knew that Brook wouldn't have bothered to write a note if it wasn't important. She lifted her head off her pillows and pulled the note to her face. Realising that she would need some sort of light to actually read what it said, she looked around for her phone. Even in the almost non-existent light, she could make it out next to her alarm clock.

Quinn sighed as she opened it up and then read the note. She immediately dropped the paper and focused on her phone. She quickly found Rachel's number and called it. Each second it rang was agonising. After what felt like hours, Rachel picked up.

"Hi Quinn."

"Rachel! What's wrong? Do you need help? Are you hurt?" Quinn rattled off the questions as quickly as they came to her mind.

"Would you shut up? Take you problems outside!" Quinn tried to send a death glare to Brook, but it didn't work as Brook had her head in her own pillows.

"Something's wrong though! You are the one that told me to call Rachel at one in the morning."

"Quinn. Quinn, I'm okay. I just need to talk to you." Quinn turned her attention back to her phone.

"You needed to talk to me at one in the morning?"

"You can never talk any other time!" The diva defended.

"I'll take that means that nothing is seriously wrong. In other words, TAKE YOU NOISE OUTSIDE BLONDIE!" Quinn threw a pillow at the half asleep redhead but did as she was asked.

"So what did you need to talk about Rachel?" Quinn asked as she closed the door behind her.

"I heard Brook yelling at you. That doesn't mean that you can walk around outside at night though. Wherever you are right now I want you to sit down." Quinn rolled her eyes. "Are you sitting down yet?" Rachel asked.

"Yes." Quinn lied.

"I know you to well. Sit down Quinn, I'm serious. I don't want you walking around at night on your own. It's not safe." Quinn put her back against the wall and slid down it until she was sitting on the floor.

"I'm sitting. What do you want to talk about?" Quinn didn't like that Rachel wanted to talk to her at 1a.m. Even by Rachel's standards that was a bit ridiculous.

"Why don't you ever talk to me?" Quinn immediately noticed the change in Rachel's voice. It had gone from its normal demanding and confident tone to one of ruin and insecurity. That meant that there was something wrong that would be very difficult to get Rachel to tell her and the situation would have to be dealt with very carefully.

There was another part of Quinn's mind that was telling her that she hadn't done anything wrong. Even if there was something wrong with Rachel, although it obviously made Quinn feel bad, it was probably Rachel's problem to deal with. It would help Rachel grow as a person.

"I try to Rachel. I'm just so busy all the time-"

"Too busy to send me a text?" Rachel interrupted. Quinn's eyebrows immediately narrowed and her head shot back a little, bumping the wall slightly.

"Yeah, I've been too busy reading the countless texts you've sent me." Quinn said as she clutched the back of her head. "Is that why you've made me call at one in the morning? To tell me off for not texting you when you haven't texted me?" Quinn could hear Rachel start crying. Her anger faded, but her resolve didn't.

"I'm sorry." Rachel no longer sounded insecure. Now she sounded flat out distraught and scared. "Please don't hang up."

"Shhh. I'm not going to hang up Rachel. Deep breaths, calm down." Quinn softened her own voice.

"Promise you won't leave me?" Quinn really didn't know where this was coming from. In all honesty, it scared her.

"Of course not. I love you Rachel, remember? Tell me what's wrong." Quinn pleaded.

"I miss you." Quinn wouldn't' take that for an answer.

"I miss you too. Now tell me what has got you crying and making me call you at one in the morning." She waited. Rachel was just hiccupping for a few seconds.

"Cynthia has been mean about you and I haven't said anything. She is always saying that a good girlfriend would call or text or talk to me at all. I know you do your best and I'm sorry." Rachel had calmed herself down a bit more now. There was less sobbing.

"It's okay. We can make a night where we make sure we call each other okay? Preferably a weekend."

"Why not a weekday?" Quinn cringed as she heard the question. There was no avoiding the topic.

"Because I have both work and school on weekdays and we would have to talk around now."

"Why do you work so much if it is making you get home so late? You need to sleep Quinn." The blonde in question was glad to hear that Rachel had stopped crying now and was almost back to demanding and confident.

"But it's the only time I can work and get as much money as I need." Quinn defended.

"How much money do you need? Really Quinn, minimum wage a week should easily be enough for food and maybe a little extra. It's no good having lots of money if you are killing yourself to get it." Rachel pointed out.

"I'm okay with it. Besides, it will be worth it."

"Wait. Will be? Quinn what are you saving that money for?" Quinn cringed again. That was a bad slip up. On the Brightside, Rachel seemed back to normal.

"I don't know." Quinn lied.

"Don't lie to me Quinn. What are you saving that money for?" Quinn closed her eyes and held the phone away from her face.

"So we can buy some nice stuff when we move in together." It was a good decision to take the phone away from her ear. Even at arm's length she could hear her girlfriend.

"Quinn Fabray I order you to stop working so late! I won't have you killing yourself so we can buy some unnecessary items the moment we move in together!" Quinn brought the phone back to her face.

"Rachel it's not killing me. Besides, don't you think it would be nice to have some money to be able to buy a couple nice things? You know, things like a nice big and soft bed instead of a hard rocky slab? I bet that would be nice. Me and you, just being together on a bed." Quinn lowered her voice as she spoke.

"I don't care for that sexy voice right now. I don't want a big elaborate bed if it's hurting you now." Rachel sounded adamant. Quinn tried a different approach.

"But if we can buy things like a nice bed later I will be able to sleep better. I can't sleep properly without being near you anyway."

"But-"

"Rachel, I'm okay. I promise."

"What if I get more hours too? Then you won't have to work as much." Although Quinn couldn't deny that that would be beneficial, she didn't want Rachel working any harder than she had to. Quinn was continuously lying when she said that she was okay. Every morning she woke up with bags under her eyes and she felt tired all the time. Rachel was worth it though.

"No, you just focus on Broadway. That's your job. I'm okay. Now, when is your best time to talk? I'm good for either Saturday or Sunday at about seven." Quinn just ended the discussion the only way you could with Rachel; by starting a new one.

"I don't really care. My schedule is flexible. Can you text me or something during the week though? I don't want to have to wait all week to talk to you." Quinn laughed.

"Of course I can. Just don't expect me to always talk to you first. You can talk to me too remember."

"But I don't want to text you at a bad time."

"If it's a bad time, I'll just have my phone on silent. You can't expect me to do everything Rachel."

"I know. I'm sorry, you do too much as it is."

"Why are you so reluctant to do anything first? Why is it that you always want me to text you first? Or call you? Or set something up?" It had been bugging Quinn since Rachel had first told her off for not texting.

"It's the kind of stuff that you always have to do. You're more of the initiator of the two of us." That wasn't a good enough answer for Quinn.

"So that means that you can't text me?" She wasn't angry; she was just trying to understand Rachel's way of thinking. If the diva thought she was being overly controlling and had to start every little conversation she wanted to know so she could change it. She wanted Rachel to feel like an equal.

"It doesn't mean anything."

"So it just means that you expect me to?"

"Is that wrong?" Quinn took a deep breath.

"It's not wrong. Just know that I am busy now. That means you can't expect me to do everything, okay?"

"I know, I know. I'll try and remember." Quinn yawned.

"We need to go to bed. When you get some time, just text me. It's not like I'll bit or anything, I'll save that for when we share a bedroom." Rachel laughed.

"You never used to do it much before we got separated."

"Times change. I may not, but the things I want to do might."

"Such as?"

"We aren't having phone sex at one thirty in the morning. Save it for the weekend."

"But I'm wet for you now." Quinn tried desperately to stop the mental images that were threatening to flood her mind. It was late.

"And you can stay like that until the weekend. Rachel, it's late. We both need sleep. I love you."

"I love you too." The both hung up. Quinn opened up her picture of Rachel. It was one of her many pictures of Rachel, but this one was just of the diva on her own. Just her head and shoulders. It was one of Quinn's personal favourites. She just sat in the corridor and stared at the picture for several minutes, wishing the real thing was with her. Before getting up, Quinn quickly pecked the picture.

She moved back into her room more quietly than she had entered it the first time. She owed it to the sleeping redhead after all she had done. She had just quite possibly kept her and Rachel together, and all the blonde had done was make noise and keep the girl up at a ridiculous hour.

Quinn walked up to her bed and let herself fall face down on it again. She was more tired now than when she had first gotten home. She was happier though. She really hadn't been thinking about it, but the lack of communication she'd had with Rachel over the last few weeks was taking its toll more than she had thought.

Sure, she had known she had missed the diva, but she had no idea until she had actually been speaking to her. Talking to her girlfriend had been a breath of her favourite air, and she was glad to know that she was going to get that breath at least once a week. Plus presents in the form of text messages. Quinn knew that she would definitely feel better when she woke up than she had in a long time.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm just putting this out there, I update more than you guys think. I have a couple of original stories so I am updating every couple of days. That is pretty much why I only update this every half week or so. It sucks, I know, but I do enjoy my other stories quite a bit.**

**As for this one though I'm going to give it bit of a nudge forward. I wanted this chapter to be about chapter 10, but I want to get this thing going and actually have something to write about. Enjoy. Or don't, whatever floats your boat. XD**

**-/-**

As the sunlight hit Rachel she smiled. She was feeling relaxed. School was demanding, but she had learned of a way to combat the stress and hard work that accompanied it. Quinn. She had already known that the blonde being out of arms reach was greatly impacting her life, but over the last few weeks of talking on the weekends Rachel had noticed a major improvement in her life as a whole. Everything was just so much easier to deal with these last few weeks. The diva had gone through what the possible reasons for this were. The most logical one that she could come up with was magic.

Cynthia had suggested that Rachel accompany her to a cafe for lunch. The diva had seriously contemplated saying no and telling the black haired girl off for trying to ruin her texting time with her girlfriend. She didn't though as that would have been completely out of line. Cynthia had no way of knowing who Rachel was talking to and wouldn't have wanted to make the diva feel left out.

The two had a specific cafe they went to. They had been around long enough to find their place and become somewhat regulars. Rachel liked it because they offered plenty of vegan alternatives and Cynthia seemed to like it because Rachel did. They walked in and collected their food before taking their favourite table at the front of the cafe. It was Rachel's favourite place to sit because she could watch everyone walk past and she could make up stories about them.

"What about that one?" Cynthia asked, nodding her head at a man in a suit walking past.

"Hmm. He's an accountant. His family life is falling apart because he is always stressed out when he gets home from work. He hardly sees his family as it is but when he does he is always spitting out hurtful comments he doesn't mean." Cynthia nodded grimly.

"What about her?"

"She is just trying as hard as she can to find that special someone to make her happy. To her, nothing else matters. She knows that she doesn't really need someone else to make her happy, but won't actually believe it until she has done some serious soul searching." Cynthia looked at her for a second.

"So basically, she's you?"

"No. How is she like me at all? I already have someone who makes me happy and I wouldn't trade her for anything. Not even a Broadway chance."

"When are you going to see that this girl doesn't care about you like you think she does? She is selfish, she doesn't understand how hard it can be to try and achieve your dreams. She probably doesn't even have any. You need to realise that there are so many better suited people for you to be with. People who care more about you than themselves. People like me." Cynthia grabbed the diva's hands that were sitting on the table. Rachel tried to pull them away, but the black haired girl's grip was too strong.

"Get off me. I love Quinn. There is nothing anyone could say or do that would ever make me change that. She is much more suited to being my girlfriend than anyone else on the planet. When I'm away from her she is the only thing I can think of. When we are together I just want her to squeeze me so tightly we become one. There is nothing I would rather have than her."

"I can make you feel that way about me Rachel." Cynthia pulled hard on Rachel's hands, forcing her forward. When she was close enough, Cynthia smashed their lips together. Rachel had been with Quinn for so long she forgot what it was like to kiss anyone else. She had forgotten that there was nothing that could compare to a kiss from Quinn. She had forgotten that kisses weren't always a good feeling.

Rachel desperately shook her head from side to side to get Cynthia off her. The other girl was stronger though, so she couldn't. Trying a different approach, she pushed forward. Her hands came free when they met an awkward angle in the middle of Cynthia's stomach and Rachel immediately pulled away. She got to her feet quickly.

"Let's get something straight. You may have been my friend, but don't think for a second that you were ever more than that. Also, if your deluded plan was to kiss me and make me forget about Quinn, you were sadly mistaken. She was, is and always will be better than you. Don't go back to the dorm room for at least an hour, or I may do something I regret to you. Do you understand me?" Cynthia looked scared at the obvious repressed rage in Rachel's voice and she nodded quickly. "Good."

Rachel quickly turned on her heel and walked out of the cafe. When she was outside she could feel the tears well up in her eyes. She immediately pulled out her phone.

"Rachel? Are you okay or did you just want to talk?" Rachel took a deep steadying breath.

"I want you to think about this very carefully Quinn. I don't want an immediate yes and I want you to think through it. I also want you to count anything that has to do with me or my feelings out of you answer, okay?"

"Rachel, what's-"

"Yes or no Quinn?"

"Yes."

"Do...Do you want to get a place halfway between our schools for us to live in?"

"Rachel, what happened?"

"Forget about what happened. Take your time and seriously think about this." There was silence for a few seconds.

"Well, would Brook be able to live with us? She's a good friend and I think it would be helpful to have someone else helping with the rent."

"If she wants to."

"Well what about... Oh my God. This is because of that bitch isn't it? What did she do Rachel? I'm coming there right now to break her!" This was by far the scariest Quinn had ever sounded. Even when she was the HBIC she still spoke with a deathly calm. Now she sounded like she was going to murder someone.

"Quinn, no. We can focus on that later."

"She's done something to make you want to leave Rachel, I can't just overlook that." Quinn's voice had changed to one of defeat.

"I'm not asking you to overlook it. I'm asking you to wait until I've gotten my stuff and found out where I am going to sleep."

"Get all of you things, call a taxi and come here." Quinn said simple.

"But the cost-"

"You weren't asking for me to let the bitch go before, I'm not asking now. I know you living here isn't ideal, but we might have to make do for a few days until we can find a new place. I just want you as far away from her as I can get you right now."

"O...okay. I'll call you when I get into the taxi. I love you."

"Love you too. Please hurry."

"I will."

-/-

Half an hour later, Rachel was making her last round to her room. All of her bags were in the taxi but the last one. She looked around the now half-vacant room. As she picked up the last bag, she heard someone enter the room. She spun around to see an angry Cynthia standing in the doorway. She picked up her bag and made her way to the door. Cynthia didn't move.

"Move please." Rachel said through gritted teeth.

"You seriously think that bitch will take you back? She's got nothing. She can't make you happy. The sooner you realise that, the better." The next thing Rachel knew, her hand was red and stinging and there was a handprint on the side of Cynthia's face.

"You say one more thing about Quinn, and I will ensure that someone puts you in a body bag. Now MOVE!" Cynthia remained standing in the doorway, clutching her rapidly bruising cheek. Rachel let her instincts take over again as she pushed the other girl out of the way. She made her way to the taxi without looking back. Once inside, she gave the driver the address and pulled out her phone again.

"Hello Rachel. You've got Brook! Quinn is on some kind of rampage and went out to get something while leaving her phone here. Don't ask what, because I don't know. I'm not even sure I want to know. So what's all this talk of moving out?" Rachel had to agree with Quinn; Brook really was a nice friend.

"Cynthia kissed me. She tried to make me think she was better than Quinn."

"Ahh, the saga continues. How is that girl now?"

"Flat on her ass with a handprint on her face." Brook laughed.

"That's our girl. Quinn will probably be happy to hear it. So, how are you feeling about all of this?"

"I just want Quinn." Rachel admitted.

"That's good because she'll be back here just in time for you to run into her open arms. Then you can kiss her as much as you want to get the taste of bitch out of your mouth. That's as far as you can go though. I don't really have enough time to find somewhere else to stay for the night. When we get an apartment or whatever I had better have my own room." Brook said.

"So you're definitely coming with us?" Rachel couldn't keep the hope and excitement from creeping into her voice.

"Obviously. Quinn would almost be as big a wreak without me as she is without you. Besides, there is no chance I am taking a chance with another roommate. I lucked out the first time; there is no way I can get as fortunate again. Also, I would like to think that you and Quinn could use some help with money. I know Quinn works her ass off, but I've also been told how high maintenance you are. Not in those words exactly, but I've gotten the picture. Wow, turns out I have more than enough reasons to go."

"Well I'm glad you do."

"How far away are you anyway? I want to know if I should be going to find Quinn. I don't know how I would actually do that, but you know." Rachel smiled.

"It's fine. I just left my room. I'm still ages away. Get Quinn to give me a call when she gets back, okay?"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. My teachers all decided to give me assignments at the same time and well, you see what happens...**

**-/-**

Rachel was tired. She wanted to lie down, she wanted to sleep and most of all, she wanted Quinn. That was why, when the driver told her she they had arrived, she forgot all about her things, opened the door and sprinted out into Quinn's open arms. When she was sure Quinn had a good grip on her, she used the blonde's years of cheerleading and fitness to her advantage by wrapping her legs around her and hiding her face in her neck.

"Thanks for getting her here. Can you help us...well me, get out all her stuff?" Rachel left her head in Quinn's neck as she heard Brooke speak to the cab driver.

"She has almost fifteen bags in there."

"Why do you think I need help?"

"And the girl can't help herself why?" The driver asked, but it sounded like he was grabbing some bags anyway.

"She's had a rough day, give her a break. It's not that far, just give me a hand." There was a loud sigh before the sound of two people walking away.

"I'll be honest, I'm glad she kissed you." Quinn whispered. Rachel narrowed her eyebrows, but kept her face in the safety of Quinn's neck.

"Why's that? I would've thought that you hated it like you sounded like you did on the phone."

"Since then I have had some time to think about it. If I see her, I'm still going to make her pay, don't worry about that. But I'm trying to look at the big picture. Brook told me you slapped her. See, that brought a smile to my face. Yes, she kissed you, but it was only for a second before you pushed her off and I get to kiss you now. Best of all, she brought you back to me. You were already stuck with me before, but now you are stuck near me too. Now we get to go apartment hunting together and sleep with each other again and see each other every day. I really want to wake up next to you again as well. It's been way too long."

"Brook says that we can't do anything more than kiss tonight. She said that it's too short notice for her to crash somewhere else." Rachel mumbled.

"Since when do we listen to Brook?" Rachel shuddered as Quinn started to kiss her neck.

"She's been really nice to me. Besides, I really just want to be with you right now without it turning into anything more than it needs to be. I just want you to hold me."

"Good, because I wasn't going to let it become anything more anyway. Brook has been really cool about all this, but she has to have some kind of breaking point. We owe her for all of this. She's going to be moving further away from school for us and I don't really think it would be fair to kick her out or watch us have sex. We should probably help them bring in your stuff."

"Yes we should. I don't want them breaking anything and I don't really trust that cab driver." Rachel said as she lowered herself to the ground. When she was back on her own feet she kissed Quinn for her work and turned around to pick up some of her bags.

-/-

Twenty minutes later the three girls were in their room. Rachel's belongings were everywhere but still all in their bags. Quinn was reclined on her bed with Rachel sitting between her legs. Quinn had her arms wrapped around the diva's stomach for more contact and Brook just looked at them from her own bed.

"So tell me what actually happened. So far all I know is that your old roommate kissed you. Tell me some details about how it actually happened." Brook asked after just watching them for a bit.

"We went to a cafe. We started talking. She said Quinn didn't care about me. When I told her that she did, she grabbed my hands and pulled me into a kiss. When I got the chance, I pulled away. Then I told her off and left."

"Then when did you slap her?" Brook asked.

"I told her not to go back to our room for an hour. She went back just as I was about to get in the taxi and got in my way. I asked her to move, but I was honestly hoping she didn't. I got lucky and she got a slap to the face and knocked on her butt." Quinn had just been listening intently. She had wanted to know more details about what had happened, but she didn't know if it would make her sound like she wasn't letting it go or she was angry at Rachel. She was neither, but she had been a little curious.

"Is it wrong for me to say that I'm a little proud of you for that? I would have beaten her to a pulp then and there, but I'm a tad more aggressive than you. You like to give people second chances and forgive, even if you shouldn't sometimes. I am more resentful and won't forgive until I have my revenge in some form." Quinn said as Rachel started to play with her fingers.

"It's not completely wrong. I haven't been around Rachel very long, but even I'm a little proud of her. I guess I'm in the middle of you two. I let things go, but I remember them. So I guess I don't really let them go, but I don't act on it or anything. If you do something to piss me off, I'll let it slide the first time, but that is probably the only time you will get away it. I guess it's pretty simple. Don't do anything wrong around Quinn, mess up once around me and mess up as much as you want with Rachel." Quinn narrowed her eyebrows.

"If you kiss her, I will destroy you. I won't even ask any questions. You go near her lips, you die." She threatened.

"I'M STRAIGHT! How hard is it for you to understand that? Go bash miss Lady-stealer so you can leave me alone." Quinn didn't soften her face.

"Lady-kisser. No one was stolen." Rachel corrected.

"Whatever. Tell your wack job to leave me alone. I'm straight, I'm not about to kiss you."

"She's not a wack job. Just slightly overprotective sometimes." Rachel defended.

"Overprotective? Who was the last girl I warned you about? What ended up happening there?" Quinn forced her way back into the conversation.

"Okay, point taken. Brook's nice. She's not going to kiss me. Don't worry." Quinn still didn't lower her death gaze from Brook though. Rachel craned her neck to see if Quinn was happy yet, and when she saw the evil look, she brought the blondes hands to her mouth and kissed them until the blonde's face softened. "Now say that you're sorry." Quinn rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Quinn mumbled. Apparently it was good enough for Rachel who smiled proudly and craned her neck to quickly peck her girlfriend.

"Wh-ch." Quinn returned her sight to Brook who was mimicking a whip action. The blonde reached behind her head and grabbed a pillow before throwing it at the laughing redhead.

"See what happens when you don't let me deal with her my way?" Quinn asked Rachel.

"Well you kind of are." Rachel reasoned. Quinn just shook her head. Maybe bringing these two together was a bad thing. In more cases than not, she was going to be out numbered.

"See? Even she knows it. She's got you wrapped around her little finger."

"Just you wait. In a few weeks you'll be at her feet too. It'll be more embarrassing because you won't even be with her. You'll be her slave; I'm more like a paid employee." Quinn warned.

"Slaves always do a worse job. She'll quickly learn that you do everything better and will make you do all the important and hard jobs. I don't even think you'll be able to handle me being in the same room as her if you aren't there so I may not have to do anything alone." Brook reasoned.

"She doesn't need to be in the same room as you. I can give her your number, she can text you. Actually, that's probably better. You can't forget it that way."

"I'm sitting right here." Rachel interjected.

"I know that baby. I'm just trying to find the best way to make Brook do stuff for you." Quinn pecked the top of the diva's head.

"I can do things on my own!"

"You just said thirty seconds ago that I was whipped!"

"Well you are. Actually, I think I like the idea of two people going out of their way to make me happy. I only need one," Rachel quickly clarified, "but it might be nice to have Brook as a second if you need to do something else. Please, continue." Brook wasn't impressed.

"If you seriously think that your girlfriend is going to get me whipped, you're dreaming."

"You're already moving for her." Quinn pointed out. Brook opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

"I'm moving because it would seem as though you two need a keeper. She's overly dramatic and you give her what she wants. That's a bad combination if she chooses to go to the dark side."

"Again, I'm right here." Rachel said.

"The dark side? Really?" Quinn laughed.

"You know, she would ask you to break into a bank and steal all of the money. You would rush of to do it but notice you forgot to ask which one. Instead of asking her which money she wanted, you would just break into all the banks."

"Are you going to ask me to break into any banks?" Quinn asked as seriously as she could, shaking the diva to get her to pay attention.

"No, I can't have you go to jail, can I? I think I would still need you to do the important jobs like Brook said before."

"What kind of important jobs?" Quinn asked, running her tongue up Rachel's neck. The diva giggled and tilted her head to allow Quinn more room to operate.

"No you don't. Do I need to get a water bottle? Maybe a crowbar..."

"Just because you're all alone." Quinn sniped as she took her mouth away from her suddenly flustered girlfriend.

"I have enough...drama?... in my life now thanks to you two. Once I get used to all your crazy, over the top whacky lifestyles, maybe then I can focus on myself. It's not like I need someone, there's this thing called independence that some people have."

"Yeah, I bet all that 'independence' really helps you get over your stress. We may cause some of that stress, but there is no chance either of us will be relieving it for you." Quinn said.

"Not all of us are sex addicts Quinn. Some people learn to deal with problems and stress in ways that aren't completely degrading or keep up their roommates in ways that scar them for life."

"The only reason you aren't an addict is because you've never had Quinn. Before we got together I wasn't going to have sex until I was 25. Also, we won't scar you for life; if anything we will provide you with a chance for some real 'independence' through two sets of doors." Rachel chimed in. Quinn smiled.

"Again, I am not driven by my biological urges and for what I very dearly hope is the last time tonight. I. Am. Straight. Was your whole school gay or something?"

"No. You just set off my gaydar. Maybe it's the hair." Quinn answered off-handedly.

"You've only ever been with one girl. You can't possibly have a gaydar." Brook said.

"I was right about Bitchia." Quinn said darkly.

"Better point. What are the chances of both you and your lesbian girlfriend being roomed up with other lesbian chicks? In case you think something else, the answer is almost zero."

"She turned me didn't she? Head cheerleading, celibacy leader, straight as a ruler Quinn Fabray." Quinn shrugged.

"Hang on? I turned YOU gay? What do you mean I turned you? You kissed me when we were friends. If anything, you turned me." Rachel said.

"I was straight before I got close to you Rachel. Then you kissed me and I knew that I loved you. So, you are the reason I am gay."

"Fine, but you turned me too."

"See, she does turn people."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: As you may be able to tell, everything has started to get busy for me. That, plus I am hooked on tap tap again. At least I'm getting results for that though, I'm now in the top ten for 6 songs and I'm first for one of them. Best in the world XD.**

**-/-**

"What about that one?"

"It's not on the fourth floor."

"That one?"

"Not enough windows."

"That one?"

"That only has one bedroom. Come on Quinn, are you even trying?" Quinn took her hand off the mouse and used it to pinch the bridge of her nose. She took a deep breath before turning around to face Rachel who was standing behind her, looking over her shoulder at the screen.

"Rachel, honey. Unless it isn't really clear by now, I really don't care where we go and live. Obviously, Brook doesn't either." Quinn indicated to Brook who was laying on her back on her bed listening to her IPod. "So how about I give you the mouse, and you can tell me when you find one that is you approved."

"But it's going to be our first apartment together." Rachel pouted.

"It's going to be our first apartment together anyway." Quinn pointed out. Rachel's pout didn't falter, so Quinn wrapped her arms around the diva and pulled her onto her lap. "Fine, how about you have the mouse, find one you like and then I'll tell you what I think? If I like it, we can bring Brook back to the real world and when she says she doesn't care where we live and then we can go further from there okay?" Rachel thought for a second.

"But you aren't allowed to just humour me. If you don't like it you actually have to tell me." Rachel warned.

"Would I ever lie to you?"

"About something like this where it would go against my choice? Yes, yes you would."

"Fine, I'll be honest. Now hurry up and find something."

An hour later, Quinn was almost asleep with her cheek pressed against Rachel's back. The only sound in the room was of the occasional click of the mouse and the scrolling wheel.

"You two are hopeless, you know that right?" Brook broke the silence as she pulled out her earphones. Quinn lifted her heavy head from Rachel's back.

"I don't see you doing anything to speed anything up."

"That's because I wanted to teach you guys a lesson." Brook said it as though it was obvious.

"And what might that lesson be?" Quinn asked angrily.

"That I can do something in thirty seconds that takes you two hours."

"You think you can find a place?"

"I just did on my IPod." Brook got up off her bed and walked to the computer Rachel and Quinn were at. She held out her IPod and Quinn snatched it. "Hey, I just sped up the process. No need to be snarky about it."

"We'll see about that." Quinn mumbled as she looked at the apartment Brook had found. After a minute, she looked up."I hate you, do you know that?"

"What, why? Did she find one that is acceptable?" Rachel asked, twisting her body away from the computer so she could face Quinn.

"Quinn probably found plenty of them that were 'acceptable', I just found one that is your over-the-top planned-out-to-every-little-detail dream apartment." Rachel was still for a second.

"Gimme, gimme, gimme. Let me see it Quinn." Rachel started to try and grab at the iPod still in Quinn's hands. Quinn let her struggle for a little bit before handing it to her excited girlfriend. The room was silent once again as Rachel looked over every little detail the website offered about the apartment.

"So, for my apartment finding excellence, I'll either take cash or some form of baked goods. You can choose, I'm not fussed." Brook said as she took the iPod back from Rachel who was still yet to speak.

"I preferred you when you were helpful without being right about anything." Rachel said as she got off Quinn's lap. "I'll start packing. Quinn, you can call the owner or whoever you need to call to make sure no one else tries to buy my apartment."

"Actually, I do have a preference now. You guys can bake me something. It takes longer to do and it'll probably last longer." Brook continued as though Rachel hadn't spoken as she handed Quinn her iPod.

"I'm not baking you anything. I'm basically paying for a place for you to live." Quinn said as she pulled out her phone and started dialling the number.

"Hey, I'm paying! Maybe not all that much, but I still am!" Brook defended. Quinn rolled her eyes and walked outside to take the call in a quieter environment.

"Now I feel bad again." Rachel said as she watched Quinn walk outside.

"Again? You were before? Am I missing something?" Brook looked very confused.

"I feel bad that Quinn works so hard and doesn't get anything back from it." Rachel elaborated.

"Well, I hate to say this, but it's probably true. You do realise that she is going to be getting so much out of this." Now Rachel was confused. Brook saw the confusion and explained. "You make it big, you get money, right?" Rachel nodded. "Because Quinn will be married to you, she will also get this money.

"In effect, when you get on Broadway, she could just stay at home and you guys would still be able to fly around the world in first class and eat at five start restaurants when you get wherever you are going. I'm not saying she will just sit on her ass and enjoy the money, she'll probably do something just as impressive and make money too, I'm just saying that she wants to hold her own because she knows that soon enough you will."

"So what you're saying is that she makes all the money, then at a certain point I make all the money. That we will more or less live half a person's working life each?" Rachel asked. There was a small bite to her voice that Brook picked up on.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. Think of it this way. Quinn knows you are going to make a lot of money. Do you agree?" Rachel nodded.

"I'm a star."

"Okay, well do you also agree that when you make all this money, you will share it with Quinn?" Rachel nodded again.

"Of course, I love her and I want her to be happy."

"She would feel the same way now, but that's not the point. Because you will have money, she will have money and she won't feel like she deserves it. What she is doing now is making sure she does what she can to deserve what she will be getting. I know that it's silly, but it's how she is. You know that." Rachel nodded, she did know that.

"Well you can help me make her stop."

"Why? She's coping. If it gets bad, then I'll tell her to stop but right now it's not killing her. If you don't like it, you tell her to stop." Rachel narrowed her eyes.

"So you don't care that she's doing herself harm?"

"So she's not getting as much sleep as she probably should. It's not doing her too much harm. Again, if you think it's so bad, you talk to her. She'd probably ignore me anyway. This is going to sound really selfish and I know that, it probably is selfish anyway. You do realise that if she hadn't of been working her ass off for the last few weeks then we wouldn't be able to get this apartment right? One of us is going to have to kill ourselves to pay for it and Quinn seems to have volunteered."

"But that's not right. We will all live in the apartment together, we should all pay together." Brook brought her hands to her face in frustration.

"I know that. We do. Quinn just puts in more."

"What do I put in more of?" Quinn asked as she walked back into the room. "We can move in Friday by the way." She smiled. Rachel was somewhat saddened by the smile. It was a genuine smile, but the diva couldn't get over how tired and worn down her girlfriend looked. Over the last week she had been staying with Quinn and Brook, she had experienced firsthand what it was like for Quinn to get home so late.

"Effort? Love? Attention? Take your pick." Brook said, clearly trying to avoid letting Quinn on to what they had been talking about.

"Okay? I've got to say, I am really excited about this. It's an adventure. I mean, on Friday we are moving into an apartment none of us have actually seen. I feel all irresponsible and chance-takey." Quinn's smile had gone from happy to that of a little kid that had just gotten away with a prank.

"Chance-takey? Really? I see that this has all gone to your head and completely messed up whatever form of English teaching you were taught in school." Brook laughed. Quinn stuck her tongue out at her roommate.

"I hadn't thought about that. Thanks Quinn, now I feel all dirty." Rachel scrunched up her face in disgust and shook her hands to try and rid herself of the bad feeling. How would her dad's react to finding out that she had not only left her dorm room to live with Quinn, but was now going to live in an apartment with Quinn and a girl she didn't know very well and none of them had actually seen it? She had held back on telling them what had happened until things had settled down and she actually worked out how to tell them.

"Oh, it's okay Rachel. We can all be dirty together. I know that you and Quinn will be very frequently when we move in." Brook said suggestively. Quinn blushed and covered her face.

"I'll be as dirty as I want with Quinn, but you won't be joining us." Rachel shot back. Brook just laughed at her. That was something Brook clearly seemed to enjoy doing. Having fun. She was relaxed and carefree, but she knew when to take things seriously.

"Do I get to watch?" Brook asked.

"Well you're straight, so sure."

"RACHEL!" Quinn's voice was much higher than it usually was.

"Calm down Quinn. There's this thing called joking. We're doing it right now." Brook told a red faced Quinn. "On another note, you're the smart one. Do we start packing now or do we wait?"

"Well I guess that it doesn't really matter when-" Quinn started.

"Doesn't really matter? We have to start packing right away. Keep the clothes that you intend on wearing for the next few days at the top of your bags and put everything else in lower. It will make for a much smoother and easier transition if you are prepared to go right after school on Friday." Rachel immediately started packing her bags again once she had finished talking.

"So, as I was saying. It doesn't really matter when you start packing as long as you are ready on Friday as I am sure Rachel will want to be there as soon as possible. For me, it matters even less as I am working right after school." Quinn said in a sweet voice. Rachel immediately stopped packing and stood up to face Quinn.

"What time do you finish?" She asked, fearing the answer.

"Um, I dunno. Ten maybe?" Quinn shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't give me that. I know you know what time you finish. Tell me." Rachel demanded. She folded her arms to look somewhat intimidating.

"Eleven thirty."

"ELEVEN THIRTY!" Quinn cringed.

"You don't have to wait for me though. Just go down there and get some of your stuff into some places and I'll see it when I get there." Quinn reasoned.

"No. Brook can do what she wants but I am waiting for you. It's our first apartment and we will be seeing it together. There is nothing you can say that will make me even think about going there without you." Quinn wasn't going to go down without a fight though.

"I don't see how both of us having to wait to go and see it will benefit either of us in any way."

"Because it will be OURS. That means we both have it together. I want to see it at the same time as you do."

"But it'll be late and we'll be too tired to really take anything in. Don't you want to be all excited for when I get there and wake up the next morning so you can show me everything?"

"No. I'd much rather be excited and show you everything when we get there and see it together. Granted, that might not happen because we'll be tired and just want to sleep, but then I can do it in the morning when we are together. I'm not going without you Quinn." Rachel crossed her arms again to show her conviction. Quinn sighed.

"Brook, some intervention please."

"Diva wins. We aren't going without you." Brook shrugged.

"What?" Quinn was shocked at the betrayal.

"Smart decision Brook."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: My sister went out and bought the third season of Glee. I ended up watching the last few episodes again today and I feel somewhat reinvigorated (?). For the last few chapters it's been more "I need to get this done" rather than "Yippee, writing!" Now I feel more like I did when I started writing, so that's good.**

**-/-**

"Do you have everything ready? I don't want to have to wait around any longer than I already have to."

"You aren't very patient are you?" Brook asked, reclining further onto her bed.

"I don't like to wait any longer than I have to. I realise that things take time occasionally and that that can't be avoided but this is something you can make a difference about."

"Relax. Quinn won't get back for another hour at least. I have plenty of time to start packing when I feel like it."

"You haven't started packing?" Rachel panicked. She jumped up from the bed she was on and started looking around for Brook's things so she could put them into bags.

"I'm joking, calm down. Can you see any of my things that aren't already in bags? No. Maybe next time use a little less talking and a bit more looking."

"Well I'm sorry that I am excited and slightly nervous. This is one of those big things in life that you only get one real chance at. I want it to go properly."

"What's one of those big things? You've moved twice already in the time space of a couple months." Brook pointed out.

"It's not the moving that's exciting. Well, it is. But not really. It kind of is, but it's not that actual action of moving-"

"Spit it out." Brook pleaded. Rachel took a second to collect herself and think of a way to explain what she was thinking.

"It's not the moving that's making me like this. It's moving in with Quinn. It's exciting and I've been looking forward to it longer than I am willing to admit. Everything about this is what I want, but at the same time really isn't. Do you know what I mean?"

"I don't have the slightest clue in the world of what you mean in any regard whatsoever. Look, how about I just ask you questions and you answer them. THINK about what you say before you say it. It's obvious whatever it is you want to say is something that is always on your mind so I am giving you a chance to get it off your chest. I know that you would probably tell Quinn anything and everything she wanted to know, but it might be good for you to have an alternative venting area. This may be a onetime offer depending on how thins goes though."

"How do you know I think about this a lot? Besides, if I've been thinking about whatever it is a lot then why would I need to think about my answers now? This doesn't make much sense." Rachel said casually.

"So you don't want to do it?" Brook asked.

"No, no, no. I want to do it. Ask away." Brook smirked at Rachel's desperation. The redhead thought that the diva was pretty easy to read. It was easy to guess what Rachel was feeling because she wore her heart on her sleeve and was outspoken. Her actions were easy to predict because she was so emotion driven.

"Okay then. Let me see... Um, are you happy that you are moving?" Brook thought she'd start off with the easy one.

"Yes." Brook had to admit that even though it was a simple question, she had been expecting a much more long winded answer.

"Good. Are you happy that you are going to be living with Quinn?"

"Of course."

"What about me?" This question was less to help Rachel and more to satisfy Brook's own curiosity. In reality, they had known each other for little over a week and even then Rachel was occupied with Quinn most of the time. Brook was perfectly happy with that, it just meant she was going to have to take more time to get to know the diva that her roommate had fallen in love with.

"This is going to sound a little rude, but I don't really care that you're moving in with us. I mean, you're really nice and all, but I don't really know you that well. I like you, but I don't know you well enough to be over the moon about moving in with you. That's not to say that I'm unhappy about it. You've been really kind to Quinn and everything so I'm thankful. You also let me move in with you, even if it was just for a small amount of time, and I feel that I owe you somewhat."

"So I'll put you down as 'not unhappy.'" Brook pretended to scribble down on an imaginary piece of paper.

"What about you?" Rachel asked, somewhat nervously.

"Well, I have lived with myself for most of my life so-"

"About me." Rachel said loudly. Brook exaggerated a smile at her.

"Oh, you." She said flatly. "I guess I'm more or less the same. Maybe a little happier. I mean, it beats either living in a room on my own and basically living like a loner or having to start all again with a new roommate. Even then there's no guarantee that I won't get a wack job."

"So I'm the lesser of two evils?"

"No. You are the pretty damn lucky to have on standby." Rachel's head fell to one side in confusion.

"I don't understand." Clearly.

"In a situation that could be very bad, you are something that brings it back to being somewhat level. In another situation, you would be good, but here you're pretty amazing considering the circumstances." Rachel's face lit up like a Christmas tree at the word 'amazing'.

"Well, I am a star." She tried to act humble; it didn't work.

"Don't let that go to your hot air balloon head. It's big enough as it is. Moving on. You said you were scared before, what about?"

"None of us have seen the apartment we're about to move into. Not only is it incredibly irresponsible and potentially dangerous, but if it isn't up to scratch then all of Quinn's hard work will have been for nothing. What about that isn't scary?" Rachel actually looked quite frightened. Not just slightly nervous, but genuinely frightened that this might go wrong.

"I'm not worried." Brook shrugged.

"How? Is that even possible?" Brook perked up a bit and switched onto the fact that Rachel sounded hysterical.

"Okay, okay. Breathe. Calm down. It's not like we are moving into some unknown crack house where we could find a bomb or something. It's an apartment that we have seen pictures of on the computer. The worst thing that could happen is that it could be a little small or have some cracks or something that need patching up. We aren't going to get there and find a heap of rubble." While Brook had been speaking, Rachel had calmed herself down a bit.

"But how can you know that? It would be so easy for someone to take advantage of us. We don't really know what we're doing. I got my dads to get me my dorm room and everything. I don't have any idea what we were supposed to do."

"It's a good thing you, well we, have Quinn then. She's not stupid; she would have made sure everything was okay before she bought the place. She'll take care of you, you know that right?" In the small time she had known Rachel it was something she had occasionally wondered. Rachel was impulsive, but surely she always had the knowledge that Quinn was looking after her.

"I know, but it's just hard to remember sometimes."

"How?" Brook asked, bit of an edge creeping into her voice.

"I love her more than anything and I know she would do anything for me. I know it. It's just sometimes I forget that not everyone is against me anymore. After the first few weeks of school, I started waiting for slushies and I mentally prepared myself each morning for whatever taunts were going to be thrown at me. I've been with Quinn for over a year now, so I have it closer to the front of my mind that she cares about me, but old habits die hard."

"So you don't trust her not to hurt you?"

"That's not what I said at all. It's reflexive, not what I know. Preparing yourself to get hurt every day doesn't just go away quickly. I always look for the best in people. I always give second chances. That doesn't mean I don't fear that it could come back to hurt me. In all honesty I don't even think it has anything to do with Quinn anymore, it's just that I'm used to getting hurt for no reason by people who I don't know."

"So it's a bit like the whole 'trust people, but keep your money in your sock' thing?"

"What?"

"Don't worry." Brook thought about what Rachel had said. Quinn had told her how mean everyone used to be to Rachel. She had gone into great detail about the horrible things they used to do to her, just to try and crush her sense of self worth and confidence. Brook had thought it was bad at the time, but there was something about hearing it from Rachel that really hit her hard.

"You know what I said about Quinn paying for what you're going to give her in the future?" Brook asked.

"Yeah, I still think it's stupid and wrong."

"That's because it is. I think she may just be trying to catch up on how she used to treat you in the past."

"That's even more stupid and wrong. She knows I forgive her for all of that." Rachel said with an air of confidence and superiority.

"Tell that to the giraffe." Brook joked.

"Tell that to the...What?"

"Giraffe. They sleep for like, half an hour a day. This, unsurprisingly, is about five times as much as Quinn does." Rachel sent her a death glare. Brook just shrugged it off. "Well am I wrong?" Just as Rachel was about to retort, the door opened and Quinn walked in.

"Wow, you guys are still actually awake. I figured you would just fall asleep and that I would get to just crawl in bed too. Clearly that failed. Oh well, I suppose I can sleep in the taxi if Rachel doesn't bounce around with excitement."

"You can give up on that then. I just hope you can sleep well on pillows and a sleeping bag. You're going to need to be able to pay attention tomorrow so we can buy a couple of beds. I know Rachel will be all, 'it's ours so we need to get it together' with you." Brook was slightly worried about that. Quinn needed to sleep and Rachel probably wouldn't let her. She would want to make sure they made their decisions together in which case Quinn would have to go places. Although good for their relationship, Quinn really didn't need it right now.

"I can hear you you know. I don't like it when people talk about me like I'm not in the room when not twenty seconds ago that person was talking with me." Quinn grabbed some clothes from the top of one of her bags. She then kissed Rachel quickly before heading to the bathroom to change out of her uniform.

"We know you can hear us Rach. But come on, it's totally something you will do tomorrow morning at about 5.30." Quinn closed the door behind her as she walked into the bathroom. Brook watched Rachel as the diva bit her bottom lip and looked at the door. Hopefully she was thinking about trying to put Quinn first for once.

"Are we going as soon as Quinn is done changing?" Brook asked after a few seconds. Rachel tore her gaze away from the door to look at her.

"Of course. Quinn needs her sleep." Rachel jumped up from the bed and walked over to her bags.

"So you aren't calling a taxi, why?"

"Quinn's changing, you're backup servant. Call a taxi." Brook's head fell to the side, trying hard to follow that logic. She couldn't. She pulled out her phone anyway and dialled the company's number.

"It's easier than arguing. An argument needs some sort of sense to actually happen. That had none." She said as she waited for the taxi people to pick up.

"It's already been established and it did make sense anyway."

"Whatever you say almighty ruler." Brook started to bow in fake worship of Rachel.

"Just get the taxi." Rachel ordered.

"Yes miss. Sorry miss. I bed for forgiveness miss." Quinn walked back into the room, her pants and button-up shirt replaced with a dress.

"Are you ordering her around Rachel?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

"Maybe."

"Good." Quinn walked up behind Rachel who was fiddling with her bag. She wrapped her arms around the diva's middle and fell onto the bed, pulling Rachel with her. There was a high pitched squeal from Rachel, and then laughter from both. Although Brook couldn't really hear what the man on the phone was saying, she didn't want them to quieten down; they didn't get enough of this kind of stuff. That was something she hoped would change with the move, but it still seemed unlikely.

**-/-**

**A/N: I also realise that the Faberry has been lacking a bit. Now that Brook has been somewhat introduced as an actual character, it's time to work on bringing them back together.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: No, I haven't disappeared. Just busy, busy, busy. I hate to say it but I feel updates may be this slow until December at least. They may take time, but they will come.**

**-/-**

Quinn was happy. Not just because she had a dozing Rachel in her arms as they sat in the taxi on the way to their new apartment either. Sure, she was working hard; harder than most even. But she was at least feeling, if not being rewarded for it. Not physically or mentally of course; her body was falling apart and she knew she was getting tired. She was being rewarded with the knowledge that she was doing something good for Rachel and to a lesser extent Brook.

Quinn rested her cheek on the head of her sleeping girlfriend and looked straight out of the windscreen to the night. Her eyes felt heavy and her vision wasn't really focused, but she wouldn't let herself sleep. With both Rachel and Brook already taking the honours, Quinn felt one of them should stay awake for safety reasons. The taxi driver seemed nice enough, but you never really know.

"So you three? Are you friends? Sisters?" Quinn caught the taxi driver's vision in the rear-view mirror.

"Rachel's my girlfriend. Brook was my roommate before I needed to move, and she decided to tag along." It wasn't something that came up much. There was rarely anyone asking her about what Rachel was to her. Most people either just already knew or didn't care. Telling someone she was romantically linked to Rachel wasn't a bad feeling, just different.

"So the three of you are moving into the same place? Why so far away from Yale? I assume you go there, yes?"

"Brook and I do, yes. How did you know?" Quinn started looking at her clothes to see if she was wearing something to give it away.

"I picked you up from the dorm rooms." Quinn felt her cheeks flush with heat in embarrassment.

"Ahh, right."

"So again, why so far from Yale? There are many places closer."

"Rachel goes to NYADA." The driver started to laugh. "What?"

"I'm not awesome math person, but one usually beats two correct?"

"This isn't a matter of winning." Quinn pointed out.

"Says the loser." The driver followed this up with a whip sound.

"Just shut up and drive." Quinn snapped. To his credit, the driver only flashed her one more quick smirk through the rear-view mirror before turning his attention back to the road.

Quinn looked down to the girl who was still sleeping on her shoulder and couldn't help but wonder in what kind of a universe having Rachel as her girlfriend meant she had lost. If there was such a place, a thought that she seriously doubted, Quinn knew that it wasn't the place for her.

Again, Quinn turned her focus to out the windscreen. The night-time had always fascinated her in a similar way to rain. Everything always looked cooler at night or when it was wet. It was all darker, there was mystery. There was also the way that everything felt different. The air, the sidewalk, people's emotions; it was all different. It was all exciting.

She watched as the people walking around all seemed so confident, so self assured. New York was a place of certainty, that much had always been obvious. In New York, you had to be sure of yourself or you would be chewed up and spat out.

Quinn of course knew that being in the new city would call for a slight tweak to her personality. Not as much of a whole new change than a small reversion. Since she had been with Rachel, she had realised that the world wasn't all about her. Sure, she had had a rough couple of years, but there was always someone worse off. She hadn't lost all confidence in herself, but she had started to let other people have a say. Quinn knew that to keep Rachel and herself happy she would need to regain a bit of fire and assertiveness that she had lost.

"Are we there yet?" Quinn looked down to see Rachel yawning. Quinn let her stretch for a bit before wrapping her arms around her.

"Almost. Just a few minutes." Quinn promised. She watched as Rachel closed her eyes and rolled her head around to stretch it. She also watched as Rachel then opened her eyes, looked out the window and smiled for a second, before her face took on a confused look. "What's wrong?"

"I..." Rachel started looking through all the windows as though she was looking for something. Quinn tried to see what she was looking for, but all she saw were buildings and people in suits. "We're in New York." It was asked, not stated.

"And...?"

"Why are we in New York?" It sounded accusatory, but then again, it probably was.

"Because that's where we are going to live?" Quinn knew that Rachel wasn't going to like that. She did her best to sound innocent, but she had known from the get go that Rachel would have preferred that they live closer to Yale.

"No, no, no, no, no. You're already moving for me, you shouldn't be moving closer to my school than your own."

"Hate to say this, but it's a little bit late for that sweetheart."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because she knew you would go all whatever you call this is on her." Rachel's panicked voice had woken up Brook. Quinn watched as Rachel's gaze flicked from Brook back to herself. She knew Rachel wanted her to answer.

"Look, me and Brook both agreed to it so I don't really see any problem. It's a great place that we won't be able to find anywhere else. So how about you just calm down and stop worrying."

"The problem is that you are already working yourself to death and now you have to catch a train to do the same. It matters because you already do so much and you shouldn't need to go on a journey every day to go to school. It's important because it makes me feel useless and like a bad girlfriend when you are doing everything." The only thing that actually made what Rachel had said hit home was the tears that were now cascading down her cheeks.

"Oh Rachel." Quinn cupped Rachel's face and started wiping away her tears. "You're a great girlfriend." Rachel shook her head.

"No I'm not. You give up everything for me and I do nothing for you."

"If I may interject. If you were a bad girlfriend do you think she would be working so hard for you?" Brook asked.

"Exactly. You love me don't you?" Quinn asked.

"Of course, I'd do anything for you." Quinn smiled as she felt a swell of pride.

"And I'd do anything for you. I just beat you to it." She looked out the window. "Now stop frowning. We're here." Quinn had to give it to Rachel; she had packed their things well. She had organised the things into bags so that they all just had to carry two bags and pull one each for them to bring all their things into the apartment building. Quinn shouldered her two carrying bags as she started looking for the key.

"Quinn, what are you doing?" Rachel asked, following closely behind as Quinn looked behind the rocks of one of the two planters out the front of the building.

"Looking for the key. It's supposed to be behind one of these rocks." Quinn dropped her bags and pulled out her phone. "I can't see." She started using her phone's light to try and find the key.

"Do you know how incredibly unsafe it is to have a hidden key on the property. I could tell you many statistics but I am sure that you are already aware of how dangerous and possibly life threatening this is." Quinn just went on looking for the key.

"How is it dangerous? We haven't actually lived here yet. Oh, here it is." Quinn rubbed the dirt off the key using her shirt.

"How do we know that someone didn't take the key and get a copy of it before bringing the key back here with the intent to attack us after we have moved in." Quinn looked at Brook. Brook just shrugged. They decided to just ignore Rachel. Quinn pushed the front door open and walked into the elevator. She was too tired to really take anything in. When they reached their floor, Rachel covered her eyes with her free hand.

"I don't want to see anything until tomorrow when I can actually look. I don't want to half see things." Quinn rolled her eyes. She put her free arm around Rachel's waist to guide her through the hall.

"Brook, take the keys and open the door." Quinn ordered when they had made it to their door. It was only one of two on the floor. Although she thought Rachel was being silly before, Quinn also avoided seeing as much as possible. She made her way to her and Rachel's room only looking at the floor; she had remembered where it was from the photos.

"We're in the room; you can open your eyes." Quinn told Rachel. The brunette complied, and immediately started setting up their sleeping bags. It was a temporary arrangement because they were set to go out and buy beds tomorrow.

"Night Brook." Quinn called through their new apartment.

"Night guys." Quinn looked at Rachel and kissed her nose.

"Night baby."

"Goodnight Quinn. Sweet dreams." They were asleep in minutes.

**-/-**

**A/N: Short chapter. I know. Busy.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: There is going to be a large expanse of time between this update and the next. Sorry, unavoidable.**

**-/-**

Rachel shivered. She was cold. She didn't like being cold. She then registered that her bed was hard. She frowned, but still didn't open her eyes. She reached out to where Quinn should be and was met with the smooth feeling of synthetic materials. Of course, the sleeping bag.

Rachel's frowned deepened. Where was her sleeping bag? She felt down her body and wiggled her feet around. Yep, it was missing. She sighed and opened her eyes. Her first thought was if she had fallen asleep so close to Quinn. She didn't know exactly where she had fallen asleep, she had been too tired to really think about it, but she knew that there had been more than the two inches between the two of them that there was now.

Not one to let herself get distracted even by something as beautiful as her girlfriend, Rachel sat up and looked around her. A good three metres away, her sleeping bag was in a crumpled heap. She tilted her head to the side as she thought. There was no way she could have gotten her makeshift bed that far away from here.

Rachel decided further testing was needed. She stuck out one of her legs towards her sleeping bag, and scooted in its direction until her foot hit it. She then looked back over to where Quinn was. Yep, she had moved about a couch length to get closer to the blonde while they slept.

Rachel's immediate thoughts turned to how sad it was that she was this clingy. Then she took a moment to actually think about it and realised it wasn't sad at all. She knew she was high maintenance and okay, maybe a little clingy, but she had reason to be. It was Quinn Fabray she was close to. The girl she loved more than anything. So she wanted to be close to her, what was wrong with that?

"What are you thinking about?" Rachel flinched slightly at the sound of Quinn's voice. She had been certain the blonde was sleeping.

"You."

"Me?"

"You."

"Can you be a bit more specific?" Rachel smiled; she would be anything for Quinn.

"Maybe." Rachel said mischievously.

"Give me a reason why you shouldn't." Quinn prompted.

"It's embarrassing. I think. Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know."

"How about you tell me and I'll tell you if it's embarrassing or not?" Rachel sighed.

"Am I clingy? Wait, that's a bad question; I have no illusions about myself. I know that I'm clingy. I guess it's less about being clingy and more about whether it bothers you or not. Actually, it's probably not about that either. Well, yes. No. Yes. No. Maybe."

"Rachel, stop talking." Rachel shut her mouth immediately. "I don't think you're clingy." Rachel's face became one of the upmost disbelief. "I don't get to see you enough anymore to be clingy. Besides, even if I thought you were, the more I get to be around you, the better. That means clingy is good."

Rachel thought about that. She never really took how Quinn thought into account. Her feelings, yeah sure, but she just didn't know how to tackle the blonde's brain. She wasn't sure she wanted to either. Although she loved the girl to death, she knew what Quinn used to be like. It no longer played on her mind or opinion, but she knew Quinn must have thought through what she used to do.

Quinn seemed to notice Rachel's silence, because she kissed Rachel on the nose and pulled her to her feet. "Come on. Let's go and look around our new apartment so I can take a shower. I feel all grimy." Rachel allowed the blonde to pull her to her feet.

"You could just have your shower now if you wanted. I can wait."

"We both know you can't. Now, we can circle around in the main part and end back here in the en suite. Actually, that reminds me. Where did we put all the towels?" Rachel pulled Quinn to the door of their room pointing to one of the boxes at the door.

"In that blue one. It was one of the last bags I packed because I was smart enough to have a shower before we left last night." Rachel couldn't hide her matter-of-a-fact tone.

"Yeah, 'cause I had so much time to have a shower and wait around for hours last night. You would have been really happy with that, I can just tell." Rachel rolled her eyes at her girlfriend's sarcasm. Then she realised where she was and froze. Sure, it was just an apartment, but it was perfect. Rachel had figured that the pictures were probably taken in carefully thought out areas as to show off the best looking areas of the apartment, but it all looked perfect.

The dark wooden flooring absorbed the excess light that was provided by the window wall that was to their right as they looked into the living room. To their left was the entry door. Rachel looked at all the beige walls that surrounded her. She couldn't wait to cover them with photos. Rachel let her eyes skip over the kitchen that was across the room from her and let her eyes settle on the door to Brook's door that was adjacent to the window wall on the left.

"I'm surprised that you don't have a magnifying glass out yet." Rachel threw Brook a dirty look as she walked out of her bedroom. "Actually, I'm more surprised that you haven't already checked out the whole place and gone to buy beds yet." The diva ignored the redhead and walked into her bedroom.

"I prefer our bedroom Quinn." Rachel said after looking around in a second. It was much the same as her own room; beige walls, dark floor and a window.

"Why? Is it because we have an en suite or because it is bigger?" Brook feigned a laugh.

"At least I don't have to share my room." She pointed out with a smirk.

"Quinn's the best part of my room. The lock comes in a close second." Rachel said in what she hoped was a sultry voice.

"As long as you two remember to use the lock I think it may be my favourite part of your room too. Now, let's finish exploring." Rachel turned around to see Quinn blushing furiously and Brook walking to the bathroom across the room.

"She does have a point. I do wish the room was also soundproofed though. Oh well, I guess we can always get that done later." Rachel whispered into her girlfriend's ear. She felt a good sense of pride flow through her when she heard Quinn gasp a little.

Rachel was pretty happy with the bathroom, but she knew she would mainly only use it for having a bath as her en suite didn't have one. She gave the taps a quick once over to make sure they were all in good working order before heading over to the kitchen. There was a breakfast counter from the entry wall to three metres into the apartment. There was a six inch load bearing wall and then there was the door to the kitchen. It didn't have a handle; it just swung freely on its hinges.

Rachel took a breath before going in. Everything had been so perfect; she just hoped the kitchen didn't let it all down. She felt her mouth fall open as she walked into the room. The dark cupboards highlighted the white bench tops and tiled floor as well as the shiny silver of the stove top. Rachel was also pleasantly surprised to see that they had been given a fridge and freezer.

"One more thing you don't have to buy." Brook said absentmindedly as she opened the door and looked inside.

"They actually look really high quality. That is so awesome. Now, check it out to a larger extent later. Hurry up and let's look at the en suite. I wanna hurry up and have a shower." Rachel looked at Quinn and rolled her eyes. "What? Just because you had time to shower last night." Rachel rolled her eyes again as she passed Quinn and walked back into her room.

Rachel smiled when she walked into the en suite. Again, it was just like the pictures. White tiles, big mirror, shower big enough to hold both herself and Quinn. She couldn't help her cheeky grin when she noticed that the last was the most important to her. She reasoned that the en suite was for both of them so they may as well be able to use it at the same time.

"Happy nothing's broken?" Quinn asked as she brushed past her on her way inside the en suite.

"Are you asking if I am pleased that nothing is broken or if I am convinced nothing is broken?" Rachel asked back as Quinn set up her towel on the silver towel rack next to the shower.

"Either? Both?" Quinn yawned. "Doesn't really matter. We're here now."

"What if I said that I did notice something was broken?"

"I saw everything you saw, so I know you didn't. But if you did, I would yell at Brook for making me buy a place before we walked inside. I would probably then go on about how she had put you through more stress than you needed and what an inconvenience it was blah, blah, blah." Rachel smiled at the truth of it all.

"I'll leave you to your shower." Rachel started to leave the room.

"You could join me." Quinn suggested.

"No she can't. I'm not unpacking all this stuff by myself." Brook called from the living room. Rachel's pouted and Quinn laughed.

"Go help her. There is plenty of time for some fun later. It'll be better, on a new bed and everything."

Twenty minutes later, Quinn emerged from the bathroom. Rachel was happy to see she was only wearing a towel.

"I like this look on you. Maybe a little conservative, but we can work on making you comfortable with your body." Brook joked from the kitchen.

"Ha, ha. My clothes are still in one of these bags." Rachel and Brook had only gotten through one bag so far. It was mainly kitchen things so at least one of the rooms of the apartment looked lived in.

"Don't go opening them all." Rachel could just tell that Quinn really had no idea what bag her clothes were in. "Me, Brook, Kitchen. Ah, here we go." Rachel grabbed one of the bags.

"Thanks." Quinn reached for the bag.

"I'm giving you clothes and all you can say it 'thanks'? Come on Quinn, you can do better than that." She let Quinn connect their lips for a few seconds. When it was over she handed Quinn the bag and watched her go to their bedroom to get changed.

"Seeing as we have a fridge, I'll go and get some milk and stuff to drink." Brook proclaimed.

"Well, while you're out you can get-"

"No, no I can't. I'm just going to look around so I can have some coffee. I'm not filling this place with food." Brook cut off Rachel's speech before it could really get started.

"Well why should I have to? I know I'll end up doing it but why me?" Rachel asked. Why did she always have to do everything?

"Because you eat differently to me. You would make my buy stuff I've never heard of or seen in my life so I'd have to check to labels on everything I walk past to make sure I get it all."

"My eating habits aren't as abstract as you are making them out to be. It's pretty simple; if it has come from an animal, don't buy it. I also don't appreciate you making me out to be some kind of freaky eater just because I value life and don't like animals going through pain and torture so we can have something to eat, especially when there are alternatives." Rachel huffed.

"I don't think you're a freak. You know that. I just really have no idea about where we are right now and I don't want to go searching for a supermarket or something and get lost on the way back. Not to mention I would have to carry it all." Rachel had to concede that point. She had no idea where anything was either. If only she hadn't of been so excited about moving in with Quinn she could have focused on gaining a background on the area.

"Okay, how about this? Seeing as I'm working my ass off to get money, you two can do things to pitch in around here. Brook can do groceries and Rachel can do all the cooking. You can both clean. I realise that you two work too, but not as much or for as long as me. I don't have time to do anything else during the week." Quinn announced as she walked out of the bedroom, finally clothed.

"Deal." Brook said.

"I agree. Brook, you can do the groceries tomorrow if you must. It will give you time to learn the area and give me time to stockpile a list. I guess we'll have to have some kind of take out tonight." Rachel said.

"Kk. I'm still going to go and get coffee stuff now though. Would you like me to get soy milk while I am out?"

"Yes please."

"Okay then. See you when I get back."

-/-

**A/N: This chapter took a detour to what I was expecting. I realised after a little bit that they didn't actually have anything to fill the apartment with. Not a major problem, just pushes what I was going to do this chapter into the next.**

**I also realise that I explained the apartment really poorly. So here is the basic layout.**

**From the entry door going clockwise. Breakfast 'hole'-Kitchen-Brook's room- Window wall-Bathroom- Faberry room. All middle is living space.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Happy new years and a delayed Christmas. Hope it was a good holiday season for everyone. Is it sad that I actually had to read the end of last chapter to remember what I was up to? Probably. Anyway, I felt like having a little bit of fun with this chapter so let's see where it goes.**

**-/-**

There was no greater testament to how much Rachel missed her alone time with Quinn than her current situation. As soon as the door had closed and Brook was gone, the brunette had her body pressed up against the blonde and their tongues were duelling for dominance in her mouth.

Rachel allowed herself to be directed backwards towards the breakfast bar. When her back hit it, she let herself fall back so she was lying down. Quinn was on top of her in a heartbeat.

"Clothes have to stay on. Who knows when she might come back." Quinn muttered breathlessly. Rachel made a noise of displeasure that the blonde was limiting them, and forced her girlfriend's lips back to her own.

Yes, lying on wood was harsh on her back and yes, being completely flat wasn't a great experience either, but the way Quinn was attacking her lips made Rachel feel like it was worth it. Then again, Quinn kissing her made most things worth it.

The diva wanted more though, and she knew that the blonde wasn't going to give it to her. This was one of those times where she knew she was going to have to take it. Besides, Quinn said clothes had to stay on, she didn't say no touching.

That is why she felt no remorse when she took her hands from Quinn's neck and slid them under her shirt. She ran her hands up the blonde's stomach teasingly and was rewarded with a shudder from Quinn.

"Okay, we need to stop." Quinn's voice was shaking slightly and she was panting. Rachel was almost taking a little bit too much pride in her work. She had put her girlfriend in this state from a little kissing and minor touching; a little longer and she knew she could have Quinn to a point of no return.

"Why? Brook's seen us kiss before, what's the problem?" Rachel knew she was a good actor, but even she had trouble trying to sound innocent.

"Because you know as well as I do that you are just trying to seduce me. This isn't about kissing me; it's about getting into my pants."

"So? Let me seduce you. If we're quick, we can finish before Brook gets back. If not, well who cares? We're in a relationship and she knows that." Rachel still had her hands under Quinn's shirt and she was still playing with her stomach.

"Can't you just wait until tonight? We can go all night in our new bed; I just don't really want to do something to my back doing naughty things to you on the floor." Rachel felt a spark go straight to her core when her imagination got hold of the 'naughty things' she wanted to do to Quinn.

"Please Quinn, I'm so wet. It won't take much. Just please fuck me, I don't care where. There's not even any guarantee that we'll get a bed by tonight." Rachel knew what she was doing. She knew what words set Quinn off, so she threw as many of them into a sentence as she could.

"As soon as we have a bed, okay?" Rachel let Quinn pull her small hands out of the blonde's shirt.

"But I need you now." Rachel whined.

"Then we better head out and buy a bed as soon as Brook comes back with our coffee." Rachel looked into Quinn's eyes. She knew her girlfriend was tired, it had been visible for days, but looking into Quinn's eyes now really made it hit home to Rachel just how tired she must be.

"I think you should stay here and get some rest. I have some statistics on how sleep deprivation and exhaustion can affect a person's physical and mental state, but I think that you are really just too tired to take my warnings on their full merit." Rachel wrapped her arms around Quinn's neck and pulled her closer to her so they could cuddle. That was before she felt Quinn start to shake.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"That is the most Rachel Berry thing I have heard you say in ages." Quinn was openly laughing now.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Rachel knew she had changed a bit being with Quinn, but she knew she would never change too much; her old traits were just under the surface, waiting to come out at opportune moments.

"Good. Definitely good." Rachel beamed, she loved compliments from anyone, but they always seemed to mean just that little bit more when coming from Quinn. She heard some jingling then they sound of the door opening.

"I don't care about what you do in your bed, but please keep your urges from ruining anywhere I may want to have food." Rachel moved her head from out of Quinn's neck so she could see Brook. When her view was clear she stuck out her tongue.

"We didn't even do anything." Rachel said defensively.

"I understand. This all looks very innocent."

"It is compared to what it was, believe me. Quinn managed to get self control from somewhere. I feel like I should be able to blame you." Rachel did her best to stare Brook down.

"Blame me all you want. Maybe you just aren't as good as you thought."

"Quinn!" Rachel whined. She felt as though she had just been insulted and that it was Quinn's job to defend her honour.

"Be nice Brook, of course she is as she thinks. Probably better. It was your fault because you were always going to come back and interrupt us." Rachel loved it when Quinn was laying down the law like she was now. It was sexy, especially when it worked in her favour.

"I guess I'll just drink these coffees that I spent ages looking for then, wont I?" Rachel immediately felt a loss of body heat as Quinn left her.

"I lose to coffee?" Rachel asked.

"It's your fault my mouth is dry." That got Rachel to smirk.

"Doesn't really matter. I should always come first." Rachel walked past Quinn, took her coffee labelled 'fake' from Brook, and sat on a box. She watched Quinn take the one labelled 'Blondie' and move a box next to her.

"I'll make it up to you later." Rachel shuddered slightly at Quinn's whispered words.

"You better." Rachel said over her coffee.

"So Rachel, are you excited to be buying a bed today?" Brook asked, taking a seat on her own box.

"I think it is vital to have the correct bed. Too soft and I feel like I'm being swallowed up, too hard and it will kink my back. Clearly, neither of these is a good environment to be sleeping."

"Among other things." Rachel heard Quinn whisper.

"Wouldn't that be the mattress, not the actual bed?" Brook asked.

"Smartass."

"Thank-you Quinn. I suppose that the bed itself will not be all that important as whatever I choose to buy will be the starting point for out room. As we have nothing else yet the bed can be the starting point and I can build the rest of the room around it." Rachel explained.

"So is that a no?" Brook asked, clearly getting more than she bargained for.

"I suppose it is exciting."

"I kinda feel sorry for you Quinn. She made it sound like you have no say whatsoever."

"I'm not going." Quinn deadpanned.

"Why not?"

"Rachel and I agreed that I should probably get some rest instead. I trust her to make a good decision."

"Kinda wish you had of told me that before." Brook suddenly seemed guilty of something.

"What did you do?" Rachel asked.

"I didn't do anything." Brook was trying and failing to keep her face straight.

"I feel sleepy." Rachel turned to see Quinn blinking rapidly and her eyelids were staying low.

"Oh that. Yeah, she should probably put the rest of that coffee down before she drops it." Rachel's eyes went wide as she took the coffee cup from Quinn's hand.

"You drugged her?" Rachel quickly put the cups on the floor at a safe distance as Quinn started to lean on her shoulder.

"Sleeping pills are hardly drugging. Besides, we all came to the same conclusion; she's tired. She needs rest. I just provided a sure fire way to give it to her." Brook put her own coffee on the floor and began moving boxes next to each other. When she was done, she grabbed a sleeping bag from Quinn's room and put it on top of the makeshift bed.

"I honestly can't believe you." Rachel finally spluttered. She wrapped her arms around Quinn protectively as the blonde's eyes drifted shut.

"So she gets some sleep, how wrong is that?" Brook grabbed Quinn's feet and indicated for Rachel to grab her arms. Together, they moved Quinn onto the bed. Rachel went into her room and grabbed her sleeping bag; more to give her time to think of a reason to be mad at Brook than anything.

"It's not that the action was a heinous one, it was that you don't trust me to take care of my own girlfriend. She's tired, I can clearly see that. I think should be able to trust us to make these kinds of decisions ourselves." Rachel sat down next to Quinn and threw her sleeping bag over her as a cover. Wanting to touch her, she ran her hand up and down her sleeping girlfriend's arm.

"It's not that I don't trust you. I just don't like waiting for other people to act when I could be doing something myself." Brook ran her hands through her hair. "Look, I'm sorry okay."

"I'm actually kind of surprised that I didn't wonder why you had to label her coffee. I mean, it was either going to be like mine or like yours so you really only needed to label one. Thinking about it, you must have found both the drugstore and a cafe pretty quickly to get to both in the time you did."

"Yeah, there's a coffee place just down the road and a drugstore on the next block. There's even a market a little further down so we don't have to go far to get fresh food." Rachel scrunched up her nose.

"I hope that it is a real drugstore and you didn't just buy it off someone on the street. She better not have any side effects." Rachel was suddenly worried about the quality of the drugging her girlfriend had been given.

"There's not going to be any side effects." Brook pulled a packet out of her pocket and threw it to Rachel. It looked fairly legitimate, so the diva was appeased.

"How long will it last?"

"I dunno. A couple hours? Why?"

"Because I highly doubt the two of us will be able to construct a bed. Quinn can do everything, and it would be best done with her assistance." Rachel sighed. "Seeing as you don't know, we may as well go now. Hopefully she's up when we get back." Rachel leaned down and kissed Quinn on the cheek before texting her to texting her to text back when she wakes up.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: So yeah, I'm not dead. I've been busy lately, but I guess I just didn't have the motivation to write this. Every once in a while I would check the emails to see that I have new followers and favourites and I guess that's kinda the reason I'm writing this now. It's humbling to know that even though I haven't been updating anything, people are still enjoying my stories. I mean seriously, you guys are awesome. Anyway, enough of this sentimental stuff, onto the story.**

**-/-**

As Rachel walked through the door to her apartment, she found boxes opened everywhere and things all over the floor. She heard a loud bang from her room, as though something had fallen from a great height.

She quickly jogged over to her room to see both Quinn and Brook on a heap on the floor. There were two boxes knocked over next to them and clothes were all over the floorboards.

"Oh my God! What happened?" Rachel asked, grabbing one of Quinn's hands and pulling her to her feet.

"Well, I tripped, and Brook has a very slow reaction time." Quinn bent down and started pushing the clothes back into the boxes.

"Thanks for the hand." Brook mumbled as she got back to her feet. "Well if you hadn't of fallen over **nothing **there wouldn't have been a problem. This is what I get for helping you I guess." Brook started to help Quinn.

"You guys need to hurry up and get everything out of the way. The beds are going to be here in a couple of minutes and I would suggest that we will find the whole experience easier if we don't have so many boxes in the way." Rachel stood watching as the last of the clothes were piled into the boxes. Quinn pushed them both against the wall and kicked the sleeping bags across to join them.

"Happy?" Quinn asked.

"More so than I was before, yes, but we should move the boxes out of the front doorway too. The people said that they would only take them to our floor; we still have to get them inside and to the respective rooms."

"What is the point of that? Why can't they push them an extra foot so that they are inside?" Brook asked bitterly.

"Hey, I had to argue with them to get them to bring them up here at all. The only reason they said they would is because I told them that the elevator would be able to hold them." Quinn pecked her on the lips as she made her way back to the front door.

"Thanks Rach. I would ask if you bought a good looking bed for us, but I know that your interior style is much better than your fashion sense so I'm not too worried." Brook laughed at Quinn's little jab.

"If you want that bed to be used for anything other than sleeping I suggest that you avoid insulting my clothing." Rachel warned as she followed them back out the door. She looked at the two big boxes and then motioned for Quinn and Brook to hurry up.

"What? Do you expect us to do this without your help?" Brook asked.

"Well I did help the men get it up here. You two should be able to get it inside easy enough without my assistance. But if you insist I do everything." She watched as Quinn rolled her eyes.

-/-

Half an hour, they had constructed beds in both of the bedrooms. Rachel decided she wanted to go for a walk to get a mind map of the area, Quinn decided to join her, and Brook remained in the apartment to unpack.

"Making beds is easier than I thought." Quinn stated as she walked beside Rachel down the street.

"That's because I read the instructions. You were going to do it wrong." Rachel pointed out as they passed the drug store Brook must have gone to earlier in the morning.

"You keep saying that but I think I was just taking an alternate route to the same result. There's more than one way to do lots of things Rachel, and by the book is only one of those ways."

"When constructing something that already has the parts and is being made out of a box there is only one way to do it. Everything has its place and that's where it needs to go. You were putting things in the wrong places and backwards." Rachel said with her hands on her hips.

"That's strange, because when I'm doing something that involves a bed, I usually put things in the right places." A shiver went down Rachel's spine as Quinn whispered in her ear.

"Not the time or the place Quinn." Rachel warned.

"No, you're right. The time was just after we finished making the bed and the place was in our bedroom. But someone wanted to go for a walk." Quinn muttered.

"So are you saying that it was counterproductive of me to suggest having some semblance of where we actually are and where we can get things? Before I came to New York in the first place I had three copies of a highlighted map of all the places that I might have found useful. I didn't see the opportunity to do that this time so now we don't know where anything is." Rachel asked indignantly.

"It was counterproductive in a sense, yes."

"And what sense might that be?"

"We haven't really had any alone time in ages." Quinn exclaimed.

"And do you really think that just after we finished constructing our bed in an apartment that we share with someone else would be the ideal time to be intimate?"

"As long as she couldn't see I don't have a problem with it." Rachel smacked Quinn on the arm. "What? It's not like she isn't going to already know that we're having sex. Who cares if it's immediately after we've made the bed or not?"

"I care; I don't want her to think that we have no self control."

"I don't really know how much I have left. I was going to take you out tonight but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep my hands off you and that would ruin the date." As soon as Rachel heard the phrase 'take you out', she stopped walking.

"We're going out tonight?" Rachel asked bashfully in a small voice. She didn't know why she got like this when Quinn was talking about things like taking her out on dates, but it happened unequivocally.

"Maybe. We'll just have to wait and see, wont we?" Quinn said mysteriously, as she continued walking.

"That's not fair; you have to tell me everything now."

"No I don't, it would ruin the surprise. If I can't surprise you, what's the point in planning a date by myself at all?"

"Is it because you love me?"

"Maybe..." Quinn bashfully looked anywhere but her girlfriend. She smiled widely when Rachel kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you too. Now, how about we go buy a muffin from that bakery and look around the park I saw when I was out looking for beds. It seemed like a good place to go and relax."

-/-

"Never have I seen so many people just sitting around doing nothing." Quinn marvelled as they slowly followed the dirt path around the small park. There were trees lined all around the edge of the park, blocking out most of the obnoxious noises of cars and trucks that were surrounding them. Although the park was small, Quinn liked it. It seemed like a nice place to unwind and get some fresh air.

"Did you even look around the cafeteria at lunch in school? At least some of these people are being somewhat constructive. Look, that man over there underneath that tree is doing work on a laptop. That woman there is reading. At school, nobody ever did anything."

Quinn just shrugged; Rachel didn't understand that some people liked to do nothing sometimes. The diva's attitude was to go, go, go and always do something that would benefit her. Quinn on the other hand liked to slow down every once in a while and relax. She was quickly discovering how much she missed taking time out to do nothing as she was always working lately.

She was okay with that though, anything to make Rachel happy. Quinn also felt like she was building character by working hard. She only had Rachel to take care of her now, and she wasn't going to be a dead weight to anyone. Putting in the hard yards now meant she learning how to cope with the bad, so when everything started to turn good she would be able to enjoy it more, knowing she had done something to earn it.

"I heard about a role for an off-Broadway show. It's not much, and it's only a couple of shows, but I was thinking about auditioning." Rachel seemed as though she was deliberately not meeting Quinn's eyes.

"Do you want to do it?" Quinn asked.

"Do you want me to do it?"

"It's up to you. You do what you want to or think you should do to get where you want to go. I'll support you no matter what."

"I know that, which is why I want your opinion before I give you mine. How about this, whatever you say will not change whether I go for it or not. I will only consider my own feelings on the subject alone." Quinn contemplated Rachel's offer.

"Okay, well keeping in mind that I know nothing about this production, I think that you should do it. I mean, if nothing else, you'll get some experience out of it. Now, what do you think?" Quinn asked, eager to hear if her girlfriend wanted to give it a go.

"I think I want to. Not only will I get some experience, but a bit of money. Not much, only a couple hundred for however many shows, but it is still paid acting. That's if I get it of course."

"When do the auditions start?" Quinn asked, seeing that Rachel wanted to do it more than she was letting on.

"Next week. You'll come with me for it, wont you?"

"Always."

-/-

**A/N: As much as I would like to say that this chapter is going to spark me updating frequently again, I can't promise anything. I hope to, maybe once every couple weeks, but I can't confirm anything.**


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